


Sasuke, Soineya Shiipu

by Moonkum



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Cute, Dark Allusions, Dark Past, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, M/M, NaruSasu - Freeform, Nods to archaic syntax, Real Life Setting, Silly dad, Some prose poetry, Sweet, Teenagers, Yaoi, narusasunaru, old english
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 11:27:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14055999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonkum/pseuds/Moonkum
Summary: Naruto is an eighteen year old high school student struggling to graduate. His father one night files an order at a company he believes to offer baby-sitting options; Naruto, however, has his own interpretation of the services rendered by Sheep Bros. What follows is an unlikely encounter with a handsome young stranger that utterly sets Naruto's life aslant.





	1. Prodigious Child

**Author's Note:**

> Author's notes: I wrote this some time ago as a means of 'therapeutic release.'

_I never sleep with my clients, I only sleep with them!_

 

“Heee~?” Naruto was sitting at the dinner table with ramen ejecting out his face. His expression, one of wide-eyed shock, was directed at his father whom stood before him.

Minato was glowing with pleasure and enjoyment for his adorable son’s sake, reasoning that he’d found the perfect solution for his special date-night! His partner, Kakashi, stood beside him and nodded approvingly at every word dropped on Naruto’s unsuspecting head.

“A companion sheep? But—I don’t really need a babysitter, ya know? I’m eighteen already!”

“It’s not a babysitter!” Minato beamed, hands outstretched like leaves about his effulgent self.

“No, no!” Kakashi shook vigorously his head.

“It’s just a friend for you to play with while daddy’s attending the festival with uncle Kakashi!”

“That’s right, that’s right!” Kakashi nodded.

“You don’t think I’d leave my precious underage son all alone like that, do you?” Stepping forward, he smooshed said precious son’s face in his hands, rubbing his cheeks so that even breathing became quite the task for Naruto.

“Oh, sure…!” he squeezed out, being squished, and sent Kakashi (the pervert) a dry look. “And I know he’s not my uncle, ya know, dad?” The silver-haired man pulled on the weird scarf he always wore to cover his mouth with; he cleared his throat, averting his gaze so’s not to intrude on the tender moment shared between father and son.

Naruto wasn’t an idiot, unless you listened to Kiba and in which case he most certainly was one and to an outright dangerous extent, he was picking up what was being put down, alright. He read the Sanskrit. He knew the rhyme. Those two were doing it, and probably all the time!

With darkness shrouding his appearance, he glared woefully at his once trusted mentor. As if a guy would willingly stomach some douche from school dropping into his house one day, randomly, after a teacher-parent conference, and even though said douche had never tutored anyone before he’d suddenly declared that: “I shall now teach your most talented son school-stuff!” Naruto was supposed to believe there was nothing shady going down? Please. The dude teaches P.E! And now he was sticking it to Naruto’s dad on a daily basis—which is totally not cool.

The blonde grumbled forebodingly and hugged his father, glaring the while red marks into Kakashi’s skull. The object of his fury rolled his eyes and started playing with his phone.

Reading filthy, dirty fanfiction—no doubt! Naruto stuck his tongue out in a vulgar gesture, pretending to gag.

“We’ll be stepping out this evening and your sheep should be showing up around 10 p.m.! Make sure you great them properly!” Minato chirped, none the wiser.

*

Alone in the small house Naruto shared with his father, he sat down in front of the TV. By leverage of his feet seeking harbor, he pushed the school books off the coffee table and let them fall unto the floor. Eyeballing them sternly, he declared to himself: “not tonight!” His homework would have to wait. Naruto was in no mood to try and figure out roots and squares and cube roots and whatever further nonsense awaited in his mockery of a textbook. He felt like relaxing tonight—it was Christmas eve, after all. No matter that it’s not actually a real holiday in Japan.

Naruto had lived in Japan his whole life; he was born in a small village north of Kakounamachi, in Konoha. That’s where he remained. However, being of foreign origin as his father was grown up in Sweden, he was familiar with western traditions; as such, he was upset that his dad refused to bring him with for the Christmas festival—saying they’d go together tomorrow instead.

Kakashi was the cause of it, the devil, and Naruto grumbled angrily, sinking deeper into the couch.

He flipped through the tv channels, which cast blinking lights on his moderately invested face. Naruto was decidedly bored and groaned to himself. He took his phone from his pocket and struggled with the fingerprint lock mechanism.

_Swipe the entire pad :3_

“Oh, come on!”

_Wipe home key & retry :> _

“What!?” With unnecessary aggression, Naruto methodically wiped his index finger along the indicated surface, and the thing unlocked just fine. “Jesus Christ…!” Slumping, the bright home-screen portraying a cartoon fox eating ramen with a content face brought him back to the now and made him feel less wound up. “Stupid Kakashi, that pervert. Ugh…!”

The time showed 21:39.

“Huh,” Naruto said to himself. “That sheep guy should be here soon.” Running a hand through his hair and stretching out on the couch so that he halfway fell off of it, he yawned widely. “I wonder if there’s anything I’m supposed to do? Should I set up the guest room or. . .Do these guys even sleep?” Cocking an eyebrow, it struck him. “What the hell even _is_ a sheep!?”

*

Furiously googlie-doodling, Naruto’s sweaty face was illumined by the rapid passage of the one and the same welcoming page going up and down, being read over and over again.

“No…!” he hissed, biting his nails.

_Order an accompanied sleep provider tonight! Will hold lonely females while they sleep!_

“ _No_!”

_Choose any one of our handsome sheep, and they’ll happily cook you meals, dine with you, and hold you while you wind down from your stressful life! Or why not order two? Let our manly arms tonight be your strength tomorrow!_

The voice of his father echoed in Naruto’s mind: “I’ll be gone until morning, okay? I’ve made sure you won’t be lonely!”

_The sheep boy will bring his own pajamas._

“NOT THE PAJAMAS!!” Flying off the couch in a fit, Naruto tumbled with a crash over the backrest. “AGH!” Collecting himself and rubbing his sore head, he once more checked with the time. 21:55.

“NO! Dad! _No_!” Calling his father, Naruto was met with one drawn-out dial tone after the other. He finally made it to voice mail. “DAD! You—“

“Hiii! You’ve reached Naruto’s papa, Uzumaki Minato~! I can’t take your call right now unfortunately since I’m too busy spoiling my cute son an- _BEEP_.”

“WHO LISTENS TO THESE THINGS, YA FOSSIL!? IT’S AN ESCORT SERVICE, YA KNOW! AN ESCORT ONE!” Screaming into the phone, Naruto realized his anger was misdirected. His papa could do nothing for him as things were. “Fuck!” Cursing, he hung up and cast a wild eye about. There was going to be a male escort here any minute, in his house, here to see him, and his father had paid for the whole night!

Absolutely livid, he stumbled to and fro, tossing things into the air and them dropping around him where he made way. He stuck an inspecting look into his room and for the first time noticed the mess.

“Geh--!” Like a vat falling on his head, he was ashamed of his own behavior as well as the situation he’d somehow ended up in. There were socks and clothes everywhere, and he hadn’t vacuumed yet this week! “Even though it is Sunday. . .” Naruto opted for the quick solution and pushed all his half-dirty clothes under the bed. Opening the curtains that were customarily drawn, he ultimately decided against it and closed them anew. “As I thought: maybe I shouldn’t…?” Giving his armpit a sniff, Naruto pondered his own state of dress. “Should I shower after all?”

 _DING DONG_!

“HU--!” Like a ghost had entered the room, a chill crawled up his spine. Was that him? On tip-toes, Naruto ninjaed toward the front door. He slid flat against the wall, a dumb look on his face, and leaned to see what he may derive of the silhouette against the entryway.

A man.

A tall man, approximately his own size (175cm) and with what looked to be spiky hair, was standing in front of Naruto’s dad’s frosted glass front door with a bag slung over his shoulder.

“Oooh no…!”

 _DING DONG_!

“Good evening! It’s the princess’s sheep calling!”

“Nononononono…!” The man’s voice that had spoken was undeniably male, indeed! It was dark, smooth, kinda cool sounding, like—nevermind that! “Maybe—I’ll just pretend not to be home…!” Crouched on the floor and fisting both hands in his hair, Naruto made up his frazzled mind to wait for the escort to simply leave on his own. Laughing nervously, he congratulated his own genius. “Way to think on your toes, Naruto…! Like a commander…! I’d make a great commander in the field—yeah—he-he! “

The door opened.

“Hello, hello? Pardon the intrusion, it’s the sheep!” Inside his hallway stepped a dazzling young man with his left hand nonchalantly tucked in the pocket of his jeans. His hair was spiky after all; it was black and silky looking. He was pale, and his face was almost laughably handsome. Naruto’s chin lay on the floor.

Stupid papa! he thought, incensed.

Minato never did have the hang of locking the door after himself, naïve as he was.

“Oh? Good evening!” The man bowed soon as he spotted Naruto on the floor before him. “Could it be that you’re the master of the household? I’m Sasuke from Bros Sheep, and I’m here to sleep with a young lady.”

“. . .” Naruto kept staring in utter shock, and in fact, he greatly resembled that one Munch painting, you know the one, in both style as well as arrangement! The sheep, Sasuke, blinked confusedly at him.

“Master? Do you require assistance?” The world shattered for Naruto soon as the man spoke again and he fell on his ass completely. His Japanese was just too formal—entirely too formal!

“He even calls me master…!”

“Excuse me?” A little silver loop glittered in the sheep’s left earlobe.

“You’re here to—to sleep with a—uh—a young lady, was it?”

“That is correct. This is Konoha drive number 5, right?” Awkwardly scrolling on his phone to check his facts, the sheep guy kept one eye on the floor-bound mister. Naruto jerked his head up and down to say ‘yes’.

“Yeah—uh, this is the place, alright.” Sasuke, as was apparently his name, gave him a questioning look and shut the door behind himself slowly.

“Right then, master. Where might the young lady be?”

“She’s not here…!”

“. . .What do you suppose it means: she’s not here?” Looking mighty suspicious of a sudden, the sheep warily looked about himself and seemed to gauge Naruto’s hostility level.

“Ah! No, that’s not right!” Reading the air, the blonde flew to stand and offered his sincerest condolences for the other’s, surely, frightening position, and only served to intimidate him further, of course. The sheep stepped back. “There is no young lady! There never was! I’m her! I mean—I’m not a lady but I’m her! The one! The young one! Jeez, what am I talking about…?”

“Look, if there’s been a misunderstanding then that’s fine. I would like to go now if that’s the case.” Backed up against the door, the sheep’s facial features were sour-looking, as well as surely some of the prettiest Naruto had ever seen—on a girl or a guy for that matter!

It didn’t quite sit right with him, to be so heavily outweighed on the hotness-scale.

“No, there’s no misunderstanding! Well, there is, but the misunderstanding is only such as that I’m not a lady, right? I just happen to be a guy.” Why was he trying to get the dude to stay? He wanted him out of his house—duh! But Naruto also really didn’t want this stranger to think he was a creep any more than he wanted to sleep with him. Which is he didn’t want it, because he didn’t want to sleep with him in the least, so it was natural to object in this kind of situation, because he didn’t want to have sex—with this person.

The sheep, Sasuke, frowned forcefully at him. In a split second, that grimace came over him and all of the traditional beauty and native charm was washed away. He looked like a pissed off guy who’d gotten duped; like the kind of person who might find you and tackle you at a market place, because you sold him that dodgy old monitor off of Greg’s List, the one that only works sometimes but mostly works fine? Yeah, Sasuke wouldn’t be happy about that.

“Ha?” he spat. “You’re my customer?” Looking him up and down, he obviously wasn’t ecstatic about the view. Naruto felt kind of self-conscious under scrutiny.

“Well, it’s not my fault either!” he spat in return. “My stupid dad ordered you for me so you’d keep me company while he’s out with his bo—friend—his friend! My P.E. friend for him! He’s--“

The sheep guy stared at him with a look that communicated clearly how he felt: ‘is this guy an idiot,’ is what that look read.

“Your father did, you say? And there’s really no one else here?”

“No! It’s just me—I swear!” He pointed at his own chest. The sheep apprehensively put his bag down and listened for any indications of movement coming from inside the house. Naruto sighed and looked off, crossing his arms.

“Well,” the sheep began. “You know, we don’t usually offer these kind of services, right? Typically, we’re a female catering service: meaning we only cater for females.”

“Yeah, no, duh?” grumpily, Naruto replied, leaning to the wall. “As if I’d wanna sleep with a guy anyway! Sorry for not being a girl, ya know!”

“That’s fine—for this time only.”

“Ha? Did ya not hear what I just said?”

“My services have already been paid for, and since I don’t expect to fear for my life or personal safety during my stay, there’s really nothing neither you nor I can choose to do about it.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning: deal with it! Where do I put my bag?” Blue eyes wildly gawked at the stylish young man in his hallway, intent to sleep with him, whether Naruto approved of it or not.

“ _HEEEE_ ~!?”

*

The time was now 22:35 and The sheep guy had found Naruto’s room and put his bag inside. He was currently occupying the open kitchen behind Naruto, while the blonde himself was nervously fidgeting on the couch, waiting for the sheep to finish making him a home-cooked meal. He had not wanted one; the sheep had insisted, and intimidatingly so. Naruto didn’t have the balls to deny him, honestly. The sound of the knife in the sheep guy’s hand, slicing up a cucumber and clacking against the cutting board, it spelled an ear-piercing orchestra to the blonde’s ears.

He was in deep trouble, and he knew it.

Twisting his hands over and over again, there was no way Naruto could focus on what was happening on the TV, not with that person behind him, wearing a frilly pink apron and with his hair clipped backward in a little accessory with a heart-design!

“Oi, Naruto! How do you like your sausages? Should I make them into little squids for you?” Smirking in ridicule, the sheep guy had already set about making the necessary cuts in the food items. The ends of the sausages would curl when cooked and turn into little tentacle-looking frills—like you do for a child’s bento-box.

Naruto, like his dinner, bristled at the edges. He turned around to scream in protest.

“You bastard! I’m not a brat, ya know!”

“Ha? I didn’t hear you.” The smirk widened while the frying pan sizzled.

The sheep bastard sure did take his job very seriously and was quite the professional, Naruto reluctantly observed, since he was sticking around even though his work ethic had been compromised. He’d refused to upkeep any type of formality whatsoever on the other hand. Naruto rather regretted not being called ‘master’ anymore.

“You’re such a jerk!” he cried. “Aren’t escorts supposed to at least be nice to their customers!?” Large dark eyes flicked in Naruto’s direction at this remark, and while shuffling the frying pan and ambidextrously folding the cucumber slices into little flower petals with cherry tomatoes as the main attraction to the bouquet, the sheep guy answered:

“Escort? Who’s an escort?”

“Well, you are! Aren’t you?” Naruto stumbled, uncertain, given the sheep’s reaction. A look of disgust quickly covered the fair features then as a raincloud sparked ominously overhead. The knife planted itself into the cutting board with a bang. Naruto jumped. “Eep!”

“Oi, oi, oi! Naruto! Be careful what you say! Are you calling me a whore?” Not so much a frilly princess in a rage, the blonde gaped openly at his guest of honor.

“B-b-but! But the homepage said--!”

“I’m a _sheep_! Hear that? A sheep! There’s a difference! I never sleep with my clients, I only sleep with them!”

“. . .Okay?” The sound of cooking and stirring resumed.

“And don’t forget it again,” the defined sheep commanded.

Naruto was stumped. Not an escort? The sheep didn’t sleep with anyone, he just slept with them?

Tick tock.

“But what does that even mean? You sleep with them but you don’t? Isn’t that what you came here to do?”

“Yes. I will sleep with you once it’s bedtime.”

“But I thought you said you wouldn’t?”

“No, of course I will.”

“You’ll sleep with me?” The kitchen knife rocketed out of the sheep bastard's hand and lodged itself in the wall behind Naruto by the TV screen; it missed his head by two centimeters.

“What did I just say!?” the sheep blared. “You think I’m some kind of pervert!?”

“Eeee! But I’m so confused!” With his hands in the air, Naruto shook from head to toe. This sheep was insanely scary!

“That’s fine! Be confused then! But I’m telling you: I’m not going to sleep with you in this lifetime!” Pointing a menacing finger at the poor student on the couch. “Now eat your dinner then let’s go to bed!”

*

Naruto were as if awakened. Awed by the gastronomical feast which sat tantalizingly placed before him, the dish might as well have been shining and winged! Gods! The fresh vermillion gems, weeping with succulence, dotted the calamarata which in turn glistened, veneered, sprinkled and full-flavored. The way it made his palate sing! Sheep are great cooks! As such, he dug in with all his might.

“Careful. I don’t want to have to explain why my client died in my care, even if he was a mega-tard.” Letting his hair down and running his fingers through it, the sheep guy had draped the frilly apron over the back of his seat and, apparently, planned on watching his ward finish his dinner before having any himself.

“Oi!” Muffled though by a squid-sausage sticking out the corner of his mouth, Naruto clearly communicated his resounding annoyance. “Don’t use the past tense with me! I’m not dead yet, ya know!” The sheep smirked again.

“Hm!” he scoffed. “But you intend to be? I said to be careful!” Reaching out suddenly, he took Naruto’s wrist and pulled the chopsticks away from his hungry, hungry pie hole.

With his cheeks completely puffed out by his delicious meal, the world stopped turning the moment Naruto’s hand was seized. They stared at one another.

Then—apathetically, the sheep released his grip and sat back in his chair.

Naruto wondered if he had perhaps imagined the connection he’d just felt. The sheep bastard looked really cool, after all. Like—mellow-cool, not attractive-cool or sexy.

Naruto blushed and focused on his plate, thereafter let alone by the strange house-guest. He picked at his food in silence a while, afraid to eat anymore as he knew he was like to choke if he tried it. “Is it alright if I eat, too?” the sheep asked.

“Ha? Uh, sure! Dig in! You made it, ya know. You shouldn’t have to ask.” Folding his sleeves backwards in preparation of his meal, the sheep scoffed at his hands.

“It’s your food even if I prepared it,” he said. “That doesn’t change no matter what.” Putting his hands together, he quietly said to no one in particular: “thanks for the food” and partook in a delicate manner.

Naruto watched him continuously throughout their dining and practiced uncharacteristic muteness. He was careful not to be noticed, naturally.

“Oi! There you go choking! You mega-moron—jeez!” The sheep guy practically bounded from his seat, and nearly drowned Naruto in a glass of water, growling incredulously meanwhile.

*

“Is it bedtime?”

“Uh—I was gonna—hit the sack—yeah.” Worried that the sheep guy may resort to violence, Naruto stuttered and moved backwards in the direction of his bedroom. His guest had taken care of the dishes without complaint, which was nice. The aforementioned guest now nodded and followed him.

“Alright,” he said.

“Ah! Wait a minute! Wait a minute!” Throwing his hands up and grabbing the sheep guy’s shoulders so’s to have him still, Naruto worked furiously to buy himself time enough to figure out once and for all what it implied that the two of them would ‘sleep together.’ The sheep set a disgruntled eye to the appendages seizing him, before with an offended twist of his lips grimaced in Naruto’s face.

“Not yet…” he reprimanded.

“Ah! Sorry!” Naruto, glowing red, removed his hands quickly. “Where—uh—where are ya going?”

“To the bedroom, of course.”

“You’re coming with me?”

“That’s my job. Do you not want me to?” Putting one hand on his hip, the vexed fellow clicked his fingernails.

“Do I want you to? Well, I—uh—sure—I guess that would be alright. Somehow—maybe. But I thought that-- “

“God, but you babble!” Tired, the sheep guy overpowered Naruto’s floundering concerns. He walked around him, affording his shoulder a shove, and moved toward the bedroom. “Don’t come in for a minute. I will be changing,” he commanded.

“Ah--! Uh—okay!” The door to his bedroom closed and Naruto was let alone in the hallway.

Eyes as wide as saucers, he covered his mouth and fisted his hair, whirling around in horror. What should he do? Now the dude wanted to sleep with him after all? Was it the dinner that made him change his mind? Naruto had never slept with a guy before; he wasn’t sure he could even pull it off or get it up for that matter! Considering such an unlikely turn of events: the dude was certainly attractive, but was it enough to overshadow how utterly terrified he made Naruto feel?

Casting a look at the door behind him, the poor fellow walked in place for an excruciating minute while he waited to be called upon. “What should I do…!?”

*

“You can come in now!” What was Naruto to see behind the door? God! the sheep guy wearing black thigh-high patent leather boots with heels and a thong and some kind of hat and, Jesus, the sheep bastard was sure to be the kind of person who brought things like whips with him to these kinds of things! Naruto didn’t know if he could handle being whipped! He’d not been so much as spanked since he was eight years old!

Reaching with trembling hand for the doorknob; opening the door slowly; the sheep guy was on Naruto’s bed with the covers pulled back. He watched the student expectantly.

What if he wanted to get rough with him? Naruto wasn’t the rough sort—really, he wasn’t! He liked kissing and hugging and normal stuff like that! He could never like—choke a guy, or girl, mostly girls, but so saying, that is: never at all could he choke a girl in bed—so maybe choking guys would be okay? If it proved how straight he was. . .

The sheep dude was wearing a Harry Boober pajamas. He had long cotton pants that tied up at the waist, dark blue and speckled with little pink sparks. His large shirt was of the same blue color and showed the magician in pink relief on the front, wielding his wand and an intrepid look on his face. Well, that was surprising.

Naruto gawked from the doorway and would not approach.

“. . .God—what? Aren’t you coming to bed?” The sheep spat in due annoyance at being strangely ogled. He gestured at the bed he’d prepared for them.

“Ah—that’s—Harry Boober.” Glancing downwards at himself as per inspection, the sheep replied curtly:

“. . .Would you prefer it if I wore something different?”

“Ha? No! It’s fine! Really—I—I like it.” Naruto shook his head and hurried to prove his cool; he sat down on the mattress next to the sheep, unblinkingly focused on his bedmate’s mien. It wasn’t like Naruto was opposed to the guy wearing a nostalgic pajamas instead of bondage gear, he was actually very much relieved at the fact!

The sheep guy fed him a totally blank stare for a full ten seconds (which makes it pretty weird how Naruto did not stop to consider his own behavior) before finally he opened up his arms, inviting the flabbergasted fool in.

“Huh?” Naruto blushed scarlet at the gesture. “What? Me?” The sheep’s features melted into a goofy grimace, one that said he was uncomfortable and also pissed off about it.

“Do you see anyone else around after all?” he murmured.

“Are you sure? I mean—just like that? We’ve only just met tonight! Don’t I gotta do something first?” The sheep dude sighed and obviously tired of holding his arms up into the air. He looked increasingly pissed for every second that passed.

“What am I—a fucking princess? Just get over here or don’t! It’s up to you anyway!” Moving rapidly before those arms closed, Naruto, babbling incoherently, occupied them and awkwardly laid down on top of the sheep, whom stared in sheer disbelief.

“No, I want to! I want to! Pardon the intrusion…!” So, this was how he’d finally tear up his V-card! It was a little unexpected, Naruto thought, and with a guy besides, but he supposed he could do a lot worse, really. The sheep dude did have this crazy porcelain skin.

“. . .Uh. . .What are you doing?”

“Huh? Whadaya mean?”

“I mean, you’re on top of me; is this how you usually fall asleep?” Color rose in Naruto’s cheeks so that he nearly steamed. At the same time, the sheep's eyes caught fire with rage. “Get. Off,” he fumed.

“Yes, of course! Understood!” With his soul escaping through his mouth, Naruto obediently rolled off of his pajama-party-friend-and-totally-not-an-escort-after-all, feeling rather foolish about himself! The sheep was like a corpse-eating ghost in the corner of his eye, glaring and growling at him for his sly ways. Nonetheless, he slipped his left arm under Naruto’s neck and breathed steam out his nostrils.

“Get. Comfortable,” he told him. As if Naruto could get comfortable like this! Who would be able to? He felt like crying more than anything, the way this was going.

Stupid papa! he thought, woefully.

“Naruto.”

“Uh, yes!”

“I’m not having any more fun than you are right now. So, what do you say we just make it through tonight, and I can leave cleanly tomorrow at 2 p.m. and then we can both go on with our lives and forget this kind of thing ever even happened. What do you think?” Swallowing hard, Naruto liked the sound of that plan very much, and so closing his eyes, he nodded and almost squeaked with approval. “Good. Team mates then.”

“Team mates.”

“Don’t look so upset, scaredy-cat…! What kind of son are you? Aren’t you at least old enough to put yourself aside?”

“Hey—what the—how old do you think I am anyway!?” The scary sheep shrugged the best he could with Naruto laying stiff as a board on his arm.

“I don’t know. Fifteen, I’d wager.”

“BA—I’m eighteen, ya jerk!” The sheep awarded him a look like he’d just tried to buy alcohol from him.

“Yeah!” he said. “And I’m in AKB48.”

“Keh!” He might as well be in AKB48. Who’d spot him in the midst of all the frill and the nyaa-ing? “Like I care if you believe me!”

“Well, I’m sorry for insulting you, but you certainly don’t look eighteen to me.” The sheep smirked in that mean way of his.

“I’m just as adult looking as you are! More in fact!”

“Pshh!”

“I’m just as tall as you are, bastard!”

“You know, you’re probably the meanest person I’ve ever shared a bed with, kid or no. And that’s saying something.” The un-wooled purveyor pulled the covers over them both, the sheets filling with air and sailing down on top of their stiff bodies. It wafted the mingled scent of Naruto’s signature and an exciting, new addition.

“Well, deal with it yourself…!” grumbled he. Being suddenly pulled into a sweet embrace, Naruto nearly shat himself. “Whatareyadoing…!?” He spoke in an inhaled note of horrification. The sheep guy just gave him a bothered look like what he was doing was totally normal.

“What?” He thought to say something different but seemed to stutter. “Tell me about your day,” instead was outlet.

“My—my day?” The sheep nodded and touched Naruto’s hair. “Eep…!”

“Ssh…!”

“U--uh…! My day was—uh—weird! It was really, really weird, ya know!” He squeezed his eyes shut. This was too much; he’d not had his hair stroked before!

“Tell me why it was weird.”

“Well—Agh this is stupid!” The sheep's heartbeat was on his ear. This sheep guy is so warm! he thought. “First—I got told that I didn’t do well enough on my math test, so I’ve gotta re-do a full year. And then—uh— “Why was he telling Sasuke this? It was none of his business, was it? “—then my dad tells me he’s goin’ out with his perverted boyfriend, ba-kakashi, so he’s ordered me a babysitter like I’m goddamn twelve!”

“. . .That sounds rough.”

“You’ve no idea! And then I start freaking out, right? Cuz I looked them up, I mean you guys by that, and I’m totally convinced it’s this escort service and my dad’s just too thick to read between the lines. ‘turns out I read into things too much and it wasn’t an escort service but some dude who comes to your house and sleeps with you but doesn’t sleep with you—like anyone could understand that!? And he throws knives and I fuck everything up! . . .Sorry…!” As it turns out, maybe getting into bed with the sheep guy was a bit too bold for Naruto’s taste. He almost made good on his promise from earlier, and was overwhelmed, his eyes watering fast. Blinking and squirming onto his back so the dude had to let go of him, Naruto lay on the sheep’s arm, rubbing his face tiredly. The sheep was stumped another time.

“It’s okay,” he said. “Look, you mentioned a perverted person. Kakashi, was it? Does he by any chance teach P.E.?”

“Woah—yeah! Yeah, he does! D’ya know him?” Rolling back toward the sheep now, the strange guest smiled almost naturally and replied:

“Yeah, yeah! White hair, face-scarf, total pervert, right?”

“Right!”

“I had him at Konoha West.”

“No way! That’s my school!”

“If you’re eighteen, how come—oh, you’re a dead-last. Right.” Snapping his fingers like he worked something out—Naruto sparked with anger in response. The sheep was nearly laughing at him however and turned his head away.

“Hey, come on!? I may not be as quick to finish as everyone else but I’ll get there in the end, and when I do, I’ll be the best student of all, ya know!” At his determined speech, the sheep clicked his tongue, like he’d heard the same thing way too many times before.

“Yeah, right,” he finalized. “You know, anyone can claim to be a secret Einstein. They just lack the means of expression, right? But Einstein never claimed to be anyone but himself, he just did his thing. You know what I mean? . . .You can talk shit all you want. Michelangelo was a huge shit-talker but he also stayed up all night with a wax candle on his head, making sculptures. So, don’t just talk about doing stuff, zip it and do instead.” Naruto didn’t know what to say, but he felt it appropriate to gawk at his bedmate.

“. . .I’m not a shit-talker,” he objected. The sheep’s face hardened again after having seemed soft for a minute. He grumbled and shifted, his fingers digging into Naruto’s arm.

“Of course not,” he mumbled. “You’re doing your best and I’m very thankful for your hard work. Please keep it up.”

“Don’t give me that formal bullshit, sheep bastard! Not after saying something like that.”

“I’m sorry for having said anything. I’m just here to make you feel better after all. Forgive me.”

Stumped, Naruto couldn’t answer him. That was unexpected, he thought. For a moment, the sheep, _Sasuke_ , had seemed sort of—poetic.

With the lamp light shining in through the curtains, Naruto watched the glowing outline of the stranger who’d cooked his food and now warmed his bed. He even held him, he realized, looking at the white arm arounding him. He felt a wicked streak make itself known and moved on it.

The sheep raised an eyebrow when Naruto out of nowhere scooted closer to him, and he looked very surprised indeed to be commanded:

“Hold me.” Slowly, the sheep obeyed. “That’s what you do, right? ‘hold people like this. Even if I’m a guy, you’ll still hold me like you love me and it won’t matter one bit. Who are you to lecture me?”

“. . .Let’s just make it until 2 o’clock.”

But, how could they? The sheep guy, on top of being freakishly pretty, was a total jerk. Who could sleep under these conditions!? Sniffing him, Naruto hoped the sheep wouldn’t notice.

*

The next day, the sheep greeted Naruto when he woke up. He was lying next to him in bed, freshly shaved, washed and his teeth brushed. What was with this guy? Who was this fresh at 8 a.m.!?

“Good morning, master,” he told him, in a deep, smooth voice.

“Hu-!” Naruto immediately got chills and rolled backwards, so far as to bring himself off the side of the bed. “GAK!” His feet were sticking in the air, twitching, and he was tangled in the sheets. The sheep’s nonplussed face appeared above him, peering down.

“You okay?” he wondered, with a crooked grimace.

“Who d’ya think yer talkin’ to…!?” Struggling to free himself from the obstructive linens, Naruto grumbled and glared. “Of course I’m okay!” Flying to stand, akimbo he lent toward the sheep, much intent to yell at him first thing in the morning. “I-- “Pointing a single finger, Naruto saw his world go black. “Oookay-- “

“Idiot…!” Hands were on him, one arm around the waist, preventing his tumble to the ground.

“’Stood up too fast…!”

“Oh, did you?” It had been flatly spoken.

“Uh--” Naruto put his hands on the sheep’s arms. They were firm. Oh, right. It was only natural someone like him took care of their body, wasn’t it? “You—you can let me go now!” he said, breaking free and turning away. “I’m fine already.”

“You’re sure?”

“Whadaya—yes, I’m sure!”

“Okay then, cool. Would you like me to make you breakfast?” Turning around with a vengeful fox-grin, Naruto wanted it clarified:

“What was that?” The sheep guy got a look on his face like he was embarrassed, and he stuck his hands in his pockets and looked away.

“I could make you breakfast if you want,” he said again. There was a light dusting of pink on his cheeks.

“Yeah, I heard that part.”

“Then what?” Annoyedly, he turned back toward the blonde.

“I didn’t hear you call me ‘ _master’_!” The sheep all but turned green in the face. Through clenched teeth he said one more time:

“Would you like me to make you breakfast, _maaasterrr_ …!?”

“Oh! How nice of you to ask!” With a leer, he went on: “I would love you to!”

“Understood.” Stepping past him, the abused sheep glared daggers. However before exiting the bedroom, he set one hand to the post and cast a glance over his shoulder. “You’ve got a boner, you know,” he said.

“A BO--!?” Looking down, it was so. Naruto covered himself up quickly and cursed that bastard sheep guy before kicking the door closed.


	2. Sheep Bastard

“Well?” At the dinner table, Naruto had a face dripping with ramen.

“Well, what?” it asked. Minato sat across from his son while Kakashi was on the couch, playing with his phone. Obviously, Naruto had chosen the side of the table which faced the fridge, the better to keep an eye on that pervert.

“How was it? Did you have fun with your new friend?” Minato was overly exuberant as usual, and Naruto realized with a grumble that it was most likely due to that P.E. boyfriend of his, getting it on with his dad under the Christmas decorations.

“Oh yeah! Yeah, definitely! It was an absolute ball, dad!” Bitingly sarcastic, Naruto watched his reply go right over his father’s head, only to cause the unwanted intruder on the couch to hesitantly turn and inspect the situation.

“Really? Oh, I’m so glad! You know, I was a little worried about you last night! But uncle Kakashi kept on telling me to: Calm down! Calm down! Naruto is just fine! He’s in capable hands after all! And I felt so silly! Ha-ha-ha!”

“Did he tell you that?” Gifting Kakashi a poisonous look, the silver-haired man shrugged and turned away anew. “Wonderful stuff, dad.”

“ _Haaa_ ~ I feel so cleansed. ‘Feels great! I’m lucky to have such a clever son!” Ruffling his hair as always, Naruto somehow didn’t feel quite as good about being praised this time. He frowned at his bowl of noodles.

“Thanks,” he answered quietly. What was this feeling of inadequacy? Naruto had thought he’d felt badly about his own ability before, but now he was at an all-time low for some reason, like he wasn’t so sure he’d ever catch up to everyone at this rate. Maybe he didn’t have all the time in the world for school? And maybe that means something? “Hey, dad!” Looking up, he called on his father. Minato, who’d begun to stand to clean up after himself, gave him a puzzled look. “When you say that I’m clever, what do you mean by that exactly?”

“Well,” Minato quickly shot a supplicating expression at Kakashi, who looked at him with the same interest as Naruto did. “It just means that, you’re my son and I’m proud of you. You know that I think you’re clever and handsome! just like your mother.”

“Yeah, I know you think so and I’m happy about that, but—what I wanna know is whether you think that I’m— _actually_ clever or not? Maybe you just think so because I’m your kid and it’s your job. . .Ya know?”

“. . .Did someone say something to you?” Putting his bowl down, Minato was serious and rained paternal concern. The son in question rather deflated as a response and lost interest in the conversation.

“Huh? No. No, dad. No one’s said anything.” Standing up from the table, Naruto washed out his bowl and chopsticks and put it all in the dishwasher. “Thanks for the food, Kakashi.” The silver-haired man waved in acknowledgment.

*

Inside Naruto’s room, it was dark. Feeling gloomy, he’d made a point out of not turning the lamp mounted on his headboard on tonight. He sat on his bed with his shining phone in his hand, browsing a particular webpage.

“Huh,” he whispered. “That figures. He’s sure to be popular after all. That _Sasuke_.” On Sheep Bro's homepage, you could see the pictures of all the hot guys hired there. The sheep who’d come to Naruto’s house last night was ranked number one. In his picture, he was smiling; not smirking at all like he’d been doing during his odd visit.

He must’ve really hated me, Naruto reasoned.

“And why wouldn’t he? With my attitude, I’m a pretty hateful guy, right?” Was that true?

Looking up, there lay the math textbook on his desk that he’d opened earlier in the hopes of forcing his own interest so that he’d magically sit down and study for a change. But he never did go beyond that.

Standing up, he hesitantly thumbed the pages that had accumulated so much anxiety and defeatism in his life. Just looking at them made him feel beaten. Every day he did this, Naruto realized, frowning. Every day he opened the book like this and felt satisfied with himself, like he’d done a good job and made an effort. It didn’t matter how tiny that effort was, since it was hard for him to do that much! But it didn’t mean he couldn’t try harder to beat the monster that was the numerical mystery. He wasn’t trying as hard as he could be to get out of the slump he was in.

Naruto sat down and picked up his pen. He looked at his phone that had the picture of a smiling Sasuke on it, holding an extended rose.

“Tch!” Naruto smirked at him and closed the page, opening up his calculator tab instead. “Fuck you, math. And fuck you too, sheep bastard…! This isn’t cuz of what you said or anything.” Realizing he’d get nowhere by constantly going over what it was that he was feeling at that particular time and trying to unendingly articulate whatever his problem was, Naruto decided that instead of performing that tried and true method any longer, he’d bash his head against the monster itself and forget about simply dealing with it. He decided to attack and keep hitting it until it fell down dead, or he’d never relent and it would be his quest for life.

Fuck you, math. And fuck you too, sheep bastard.

*

“Look, but—yeah—I understand where you’re coming from—really! But I’m telling you—won’t you make an exception just once? I swear, it wasn’t me who called that time, it was my dad and he didn’t even understand what it was you guys offered. Look—please— _please_! Alright? My name is Naruto. I met with Sasuke when he came to my house to be a sheep guy. I just need to talk with him one more time and I won’t bother you again! I swear it, and I never go back on my wo—uh—hello? Hello? . . .God DAMN IT!” Squeezing his phone in his hand so that he had to stop himself before breaking it, Naruto facepalmed hard outside the main entrance of Konoha West. It was snowing. It was freezing. Even though Naruto was wrapped up in warm, fluffy orange mittens, a hat and a long scarf, his nose was still red and runny and he was still freezing!

Sniffing, he checked the time. 16:01.

“Tch! Where the hell does it get off being so dark out already? ‘The worst.” Naruto lumbered off in the direction of the gate leading off the premises.

“Oh! You coming or going, young man?” The groundskeeper spoke to him from his post, clearly in the process of locking up the gate for the day before heading home. Naruto looked up at him with his red nose and snowflakes in his hair.

“I’m going!” he called. Footsteps rushed behind him then and he could hear a backpack slapping against some runners back. While the groundskeeper gestured out, Naruto turned to have a look who it was. His jaw nearly dropped. “SA--“The sheep guy, in full winter gear, dark and handsome (seriously, to hell with this guy) wearing a red scarf and a winter cap slowed to a stop next to him. He smirked at Naruto and took his arm unceremoniously. “SASU--!”

“Yeah, yeah, careful you don’t pass out you’re so happy to see me. Thanks!” The sheep called to the gatekeeper after pulling Naruto with him off the school grounds so he could turn the lock.

“But what are you doing here!?” Laughing with slight affront, Sasuke looked off before refocusing on the blonde.

“Can’t say that’s really any of your business, is it?” he replied. Naruto’s face burned. “But, since we’re friends—"he smirked teasingly “--I’m picking up my grades!” He waved an envelope around before both of their faces, and Naruto didn’t know which leg to lean on. “Turns out you actually need these things occasionally. Who’d’ve thought it, right?”

“You didn’t have to tell me if you didn’t want to. You don’t—owe me anything, ya know.” At Naruto’s somehow sad tone, the sheep grew puzzled and so he stared.

“What?” he commented. “Of course not. ‘Just felt like telling you since you asked. What’s the problem?”

“Nothing, I suppose.”

“Right. We’ve got no problem then.”

“Mh. Right.” Standing there in the falling snow, Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him.

“. . .So," he said after a while. “Why do you keep calling my workplace?” Naruto’s head jerked up in shock and he looked at the other, all apprehension.

“That’s! I mean I—I just wanted to get in touch with you again, I guess.” Naruto rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. He sniffed.

“You guess?” Blue eyes, full of wonder, found him. Sasuke clicked his tongue. “Hey, look—if you’d been a girl, there’d been no issue. . .” The wind blew, carrying perfect snowflakes. They stuck in Sasuke’s hair and were relieved against the glossy black of his bangs, of his eyelashes. The somehow mystifying sheep forcefully blew the snow out of his eyes with a sputtering sound.

“But I’m not a girl,” Naruto stated sadly.

“. . .Right.”

“How come I have to be a girl for us to hang out sometime? That’s all I wanted, ya know. ‘Just to be your friend.” Sasuke seemed very uncomfortable of a sudden. He took a step back and pointed to the route behind him.

“Look, I’ve gotta--“

“Do you already have enough friends, Sasuke? You absolutely can’t make room for one more? Well, that’s fine then. I just wanted to let you know that because of what you said, I got an A on that math test that I failed. Ya know, the one I told you about. I studied and I did it again and I passed and now I actually feel good about myself. D’ya know what that feels like?” Naruto took his own retreating step. He pointed to himself. “My entire life—"his lip shook “—I’ve been a loser. I was never good at anything, really. My one true talent must’ve been my delusion that I was anything else. Anything but a mega-tard, like you said.” At Sasuke’s fidgeting attention, Naruto took heart and stilled the shaking of his hands by clenching them tightly. “But now. . . “Displaying his own envelope and opening it up, Naruto held a paper out for Sasuke to take, urging him. “Take it!” With hesitance, Sasuke did. “Now I feel like maybe I’m not as hopeless as I’ve been acting like. I’m going home to show this to my dad and my stepdad, and then I’m going to bed, because it’s Sunday and I’m fucking exhausted!” Naruto’s sudden laughter had the sheep guy starting. “You keep that one,” ordered the blonde. “It’s a copy I made for you anyway.”

“But—this is personal information, Naruto, I can’t accept this!”

“I don’t care what you accept! Just take it! It’s a present! So, thanks. I’ll see you around, I guess.” Briskly turning, Naruto left, with his envelope underneath his arm and his hands deep in his pockets. Sasuke stood left behind with the paper in his hand. He didn’t move away without turning his head several times.

*

It was January 14 and Naruto was back in school since a little more than a week.

“You spent the winter break studying?! What the hell is your problem!?” Kiba couldn’t believe it when Naruto actually helped him with his homework. He was beside himself, in fact.

“I had a lot of catching up to do. It’s not like ya have to study for fuckin’ hours every day.”

“EEEH!? What’re ya makin’ fun of me, asshole!?” Kiba threw his pen at Naruto’s head and it bounced off, having successfully caused a painful wince. The other people in class watched them peculiarly but paid them mostly no mind. It was lunch break. You’re alright even if you’re a little bit loud. Maybe not if you’re screaming like a stuck pig like Kiba, though. Naruto smirked at his best friend.

“No,” he said. “Didn’t mean to. Look, I don’t know what to tell ya.”

“What’s with you lately anyway? Yer like—no fun at all.” He sat down across from Naruto’s desk and bit into his sandwich.

“Well, sorry for not being more fun to be around. It’ll be fine! It’ll be fine! We’ll play video games at your place this weekend!”

“Nah, sorry, my sister’s visiting. Whole place is full of doghair and slob so you couldn’t fit another person in there if you tried, right? My mom’s losing her mind.” Grinning at his mother’s misfortune, Kiba lent back.

“Oh, right. Well, some other time then.”

“Dude…!” Quickly leaning forward, the chair he’d been tilting on slammed into its correct position and drew annoyed glances in Kiba’s direction. “Seriously, did something happen?” Naruto shrugged and looked out the window.

“Nothing really. . .” It had been a week since he’d seen Sasuke. That weird sheep guy—one might wonder what he’s up to right now? Maybe he’s at work? Naruto wondered what sheep do when they’re not sleeping with randos.

“It’s weird anyway! It’s like yer—tryin’a make a decent man out’a yourself or some lame shit like that! Ya plan on takin’ a wife?” Naruto snorted at this suggestion. A wife, huh? No, that sort of thing would be impossible, wouldn’t it?

“Na, Kiba, “ he began.

“Hm?” Lettuce and ham stuck out of the brunette’s toothy mouth.

“It’s illegal to marry a sheep, right?” Kiba choked and started coughing.

“ _URUSAI WA NE_!?” Shrieked one of the girls in class.

“HA!? A sheep!? Ya wanna marry one!?”

“It was just a hypothetical question! I’m just asking to confirm something, is all!” Naruto held his hands up before himself, grinning apologetically.

“Well—"Kiba seemed to collect himself “—I’m pretty sure it’s illegal, yeah. Why?”

“Just curious, I guess. Forget it.” Flustered, Naruto ran his hands through his hair and laughed at himself. It was pretty clear, all things considered, that that Sasuke guy didn’t want anything to do with him.

*

“I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t be calling anymore, I just—if you talk to him, please let him know I’m done bothering him, okay? It must’ve been so creepy having me trying to contact him again and again, but I just didn’t know what to do other than that! I get the message now though! I won’t try anymore! So, tell him I’m sorry and goodbye from me, alright? I’m sorry! I’m sorry for being a creep! I—hello? Hello? . . .Oh, for gods’ sake…!” They hung up on him again. The Sheep Bros place probably aren’t too keen on this particular blonde’s enthusiasm. They probably had to deal with stalkers on the regs—a realization which made Naruto cringe at himself.

He stood up from his desk abruptly and laid down on his bed. He took a deep, calming breath.

It hadn’t been a lie, though. He really wasn’t going to be calling anymore. It was a promise as one who could no longer stand curtsying.

That day, Naruto had written his phone number on the back of the copy of his test score that he’d given to Sasuke, hoping he’d use it to contact him. Just like he’d implied he would, he must’ve thrown it away in the end.

In the darkness of his room, Naruto’s phone at that moment lit up and sounded a cutesy little text-message tone.

“ _Kon-kon_!” The blonde had to for the millionth time calm his nerves before looking at it. It was from an unregistered number.

 _“Creep”_ it said bluntly. Naruto’s stomach turned. He was filled with downheartedness in an instant, the likes of which he couldn’t have imagined ever feeling prior to this one glaring message on his phone.

Opening up the reply box, he watched the indicator blink at him for a good ten minutes. Naruto couldn’t think of what to say. His eyes welled up with tears and he covered his face with one hand, completely still and agonizing.

“ _Yeah,_ ” he finally typed without looking. _“I know.”_ Ten more minutes passed and Naruto, suddenly animated and flying to sit, had the humiliating tears in his eyes fall down his cheeks, and whilst biting his lip he wrote the addendum: _“I’m sorry.”_

 _“What are you doing?”_ At this second unexpected message, he didn’t know what to do with himself. Naruto’s heart was in his throat, and grief in his gut and he wanted to spill his every confession on Sasuke and apologize for having botched their potential relationship to one another so spectacularly. He knew how it all looked. He’d be annoyed and weirded out too, and he didn’t want Sasuke to feel that way about him.

 _“I was trying to be friends with you but I understand now that I was just being a bother. I apologize for that. I won’t bother you again.”_ Naruto let his face sink to his knees. He sat hugging them, his phone in his hand. It soon barked again.

 _“?”_ The blonde was now confused on top of everything else. He squinted at the screen and wiped his nose. Question mark? What the hell does that mean? What’s he referring to exactly? Maybe, a block of ice dropped into Naruto’s stomach, this wasn’t Sasuke he was texting with?

_“This is Sasuke right?”_

_“Yes”_ A sigh of relief escaped him.

 _“I was just trying to apologize for my behavior towards you.”_ Naruto typed quickly.

 _“okay”_ Okay!? That wasn’t even close to a satisfactory response! He was baring his soul here! A heartfelt apology deserves more than just an ‘okay’! What was this shitty sheep guy’s problem!?

 _“that doesn’t answer my question, though.”_ A second message appeared a minute after the disappointing one. Naruto was officially out for a spin. He didn’t know what the hell was going on.

_“What question?”_

_“??? What are you doing???”_ Wait—was he asking. . .

_“do you mean right now?”_

_“no yesterday :P”_ HOW EMBARASSING. Naruto fell backwards on his bed and slapped his hands over his face.

“Oh, my goood…!” he cried from behind his coverage, just mortified.

 _“I knew that’s what you meant! I was just checking if you were awake”_ No, no, delete, delete…! _“nothing special. Just chillin in bed.”_ Perfect. Such a smooth and cool thing to reply. SHIT! He forgot to add: ‘and you?’

_“k”_

_“what about you?”_

_“I’m not doing anything.”_ How was it that this guy was such a terrible text-partner? He works with dialogues, doesn’t he!? Naruto rubbed his forehead, feeling like he was defusing a bomb.  _“you’re not creeping on any service providers tonight? :P”_

“Heh!” he chuckled.  _“just you :P”_

 _“lol.”_ For a while, Naruto lay on his back, struggling with what to say. He didn’t want to mess up and ruin the mood. Sasuke had joked with him. That was undeniable. His face slowly began to burn again, and he held his crappy, precious phone to his chest. After a stressful fifteen minutes of static silence and the occasional car drifting down the street outside, Naruto’s phone barked at him.

 _“I got your message,”_ it said.

 _“what message?”_ Not that he didn’t know; he’d left so many.

_“You said you weren’t going to be calling me any longer.”_

_“does that bum you out or something?”_ Was this the reason Sasuke was finally contacting him? Because he didn’t want Naruto to stop calling? Maybe he just wanted to tease him. What if he’d never hear from him again after they finish texting tonight? What if Sasuke just stops replying? Naruto was fighting to be alright with that, thinking it might happen. He definitely didn’t wish to be an inconvenience for Sasuke. He wasn’t that needy.

Sasuke didn’t reply again.

Even though Naruto lay awake until 02:30, his phone stayed silent after that final message, and it was a thorn in his side, wondering if his being friendlier could have changed the outcome of their chance conversation.

*

Time dragged on. Naruto’s life had taken on a re-imagined design. For two and a half hours every school night, he studied. He hung out with Kiba a few days a week and sporadically on the weekends. He also helped out around the house doing chores more regularly than he’d ever done. He even got along better with Kakashi, who, despite being a pervert for sure, was also, as it turns out, a pretty smart guy.

Naruto was trying to forget about Sasuke, but he secretly kept hoping he would text him again. He refused to be the one to try and reestablish the brief contact they’d had, being too prideful out of principle.

“Na,” Naruto drew Kakashi’s attention in the laundry room. He was helping him fold clothes, having washed a full load comprised of nothing but the silver-haired man’s weird scarves. It appeared he had a million of them.

“Hm?”

“How do you make someone like you? Like, I get that there’s some kinda magic involved or whatever, obviously, but I mean: how do you do it? Is there anything you can say or do to make it happen?” Brooding, Naruto kept his eyes locked to the dark blue cloth in his hands. He folded it neatly and moved on to the next, a deep crimson one. Kakashi stared at him, bewildered.

“Well, “he said. “That depends on the person, really. Both need to be a good match first of all.”

“How do ya know you’re a good match for someone?” Kakashi was thoughtful and considered his answer.

“In my opinion, you’re a good partner if you contribute to another person’s life in a positive way. Like, say you’re aware of their ambitions and dreams and hopes for the future, and you support them in whatever those things may be—that sort of thing. It can be said for any type of relationship, really. Whether it’s for a friend or a parent or a lover, offering your support for someone else’s cause is just a very considerate thing to do. I think anyone should be able to appreciate it.”

“I see. . .”

“It’s the figuring out what kind of support is required that’s the real tricky part, I say.” Kakashi folded the scarves like he’d never done anything else. He was like a baker, making pies. “What works for one person may not be right at all for someone else.” Naruto sighed, and he leaned on the counter heavily.

“That doesn’t really help me then…!” he complained and hung his head. Kakashi patted his shoulder in a gesture of companionship.

“Love troubles?” he asked him.

“How do ya know if someone likes you or not?” Naruto looked pleadingly at his stepdad. “Why does it feel like I’m the only one trying? Is that. . . _Ughhh_! It’s so hard!”

“. . .I wish that I could tell you there’s a sure-fire way to figure out if someone’s into you or not. Actually, I’m sure every man on earth would love to know the answer to that one. But, honestly, there’s only one way to know, and that’s to just— “he made a waving motion with his hand in dismissal “—ask them.” Naruto looked at him, terrified at such a proposal. He couldn’t just ask! Like he was out of his mind?! “And they might lie to you, but you know what? If they say they don’t even if they do, then I guess that’s their choice in the end, right? So, we’ll all just have to be satisfied with their response.” Shrugging, Kakashi finished putting the folded scarves in a basket and he prepared to carry them to the bedroom he now shared with Naruto’s father.

“Oh my god, can’t you have any better advice!? That’s totally not what I wanted to hear!” Facepalming at the nonsensical situation, his dramatic nerve willed Kakashi to laugh.

“Sorry, kiddo! You wanted the adult reply, didn’t you? Unfortunately, I’m no good with any other type than that.”

“I just don’t know—how to approach the strong silent type, ya know.” At hearing this, Kakashi halted mid-motion. He put the laundry basket aside on the kitchen table, and he came walking back into the doorway of the laundry room. Leaning, with his arms crossed, he looked at Naruto seriously.

“The strong silent type, huh?” he began. “I’ll tell you something: I once had a student. Smart kid, well-behaved, always polite but _such_ an under-achiever…! He performed moderately on his test scores and he was constantly just—collected and efficient. Strong and silent type, this kid also.” Gesturing while he spoke, Kakashi was animated with the expressions of a man greatly affected. The way he moved and spoke suggested disappointment, in both the student as well as in himself. “I asked him why it was he felt good enough was good enough for him? Didn’t he want to make something for his own sake? Did he even care about anything that he did or was it all just for someone else? I hated to see such a bright kid squander the opportunities granted him, thinking maybe he just didn’t know any better. You know what he told me? When I asked him: Why don’t you try harder? You’re better than this, I know you can do better! You know what he said?”

“No, what’d he say?” Naruto wondered quietly, leaning on the wall next to Kakashi now.

“He said there was no reason for him to work anymore than necessary. And I argued: but don’t you want to have a career? You can be anything you want, you just have to pick something! I know you can do it! He said: Nah.” Kakashi shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, grimacing. “I don’t really care about that stuff. Well, what do you care about? I asked him. He said: my brother. ‘care about him a lot. Well, how would you feel about him saying the same thing you’re telling me now? That he didn’t really care about school, that he didn’t have any dreams for himself? He said he’d be angry with his brother if he heard him say those things. He’d be angry with him! See, he knew it was bad! He wanted better for his brother because he cared about him a great deal…! Do you know what I mean by all this?” Naruto shook his head, a little embarrassed of himself.

“Not—really. Sorry.”

“This was a sad kid, Naruto. He wasn’t particularly strong but he was rough around the edges because he was hurting inside. He was silent because of that…!” Turning his face away of a sudden, Kakashi tensed his jaw, clearly overcome with emotion. He needed a moment and stared at the floor. “Not everyone’s like that kid,” he stated. “But many people are. And they grow up, and don’t you let them scare you away, Naruto. You promise me that, right? Don’t think for one second—they’re not every bit as insecure and frightened as the rest of us. Lots of people are like that.”

“O—okay, I promise.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I promise, Kakashi, I’m sorry.”

“C’mere!” Smiling bravely, the silver-haired man pulled Naruto in for a hug. “What’re you apologizing for? You’ve done nothing wrong. I’m proud of you and your dad’s proud of you. We’re so happy you exist…! You hear that? You’re a wonderful person!”

“Heh!” Naruto wasn’t sure what to say. Wrapped in his stepdad’s arms for the first time, he felt deeply touched. He’d wanted to talk about appearing interesting to Sasuke and how to go about ensuring that but having talked he felt plenty loved already. “Thanks…!” Pulling away and clowning a bit so he wouldn’t feel as awkward, he shadowboxed Kakashi’s arm and made to move away. “Thanks for the talk, ya know!” Grinning stupidly, he was met with Kakashi’s firm nod.

“Any time,” he said gently.

*

Another week went by and Naruto’s conversation with Sasuke still hadn’t been updated. The blonde was in his room. It was late and though it was a Friday night, Kiba was busy with other people and Naruto stayed in watching one surprisingly horrible show after the other on Nertflarx.

“My god,” he said, lying on his bed and staring at the TV monitor in the bookshelf. “How many sandwiches can a guy eat in a day?... ‘could really go for one of those, to be fair.”

“ _Kon-kon_!” Naruto gasped! His every limb seemed to extend of their own volition and flew into the air at the sound of his phone receiving a text. In a blizzard-like fashion, the popcorn previously contained were unleashed into the atmosphere whereupon they hailed down on him in a shower of ill-boding. The bowl fell on his head and Naruto tilted the edge of it, having dove on the summoning device. Who was it?

 _“What are you doing?”_ Sasuke! Naruto’s face split into a wide, exuberant smile, and he kicked his feet as he typed.

_“Watching Nurtflomp. It’s not as fun as it could be, I’ll tell you that. How about you?”_

_“okay will you?”_

_“will I what?”_ Again with this!

_“tell me”_

_“tell you what?? haha”_

_“forget it”_ Loudly smacking his forehead, Naruto cursed his grave disability dealing with Sasuke’s deficient texting skills! They were lacking. SHIT! What should he write to make up for it?

 _“sorry! I’m a bit slow sometimes haha :P”_ He waited patiently. Gingerly removing the popcorn bowl from off his head and setting it on the floor; he didn’t take his eyes off the conversation window. And the time passed. Ten minutes. Fifteen. Twenty.

“FUCK! No, come on! Why am I such an idiot!?”

_“you haven’t talked to me in weeks! I’m sorry for not getting what you meant”_

“ _Kon-kon_!”

 _“Yes, it bums me out lol it’s no fun not getting yelled at every time I walk into the office anymore. I’m out after-working with the company. What’re you doing? I got your note on the back of your certificate.”_ Ah. It all made sense. And by that meaning: absolutely none of it made any sense. Could it be that Sasuke was drinking?  _“do I have to talk to you? Yeah, you are”_

“Now he’s replying backwards…!” Drooping his head and sighing, Naruto typed quickly before that drunkard sheep guy could get another hopeless word in.

 _“you certainly don’t have to though I like it when you choose to”_ Naruto smiled seductively. “See how you like that, ya drunken bastard…!”

“ _Kon-kon_!”

_“lol I bet you do”_

“ _ofc ;)_ ”

 _“lol!”_ Another message followed briskly. _“you’re such a creep”_

_“sure. And you’re a bastard but it doesn’t mean I like you any less”_

_“haha k”_ Again, another message followed closely behind the first. _“so are you still underage or what haha”_ Naruto’s eyes nearly fell out of his head. A hysterical giggle rose in his throat and he had to cover his mouth to keep from arousing distress in the restive household by the abrupt wailing threatening to ensue.

_“I’m still 18 come get me ;)”_

_“you come”_

“Oh jesus, he’s serious…?”

 _“I’m on shinobi-kabukicho”_ It seemed the sheep bastard had a habit of separating his texts by subject _. “I’ll meet you at shinryokan station in twenty minutes”_ Now, wait just a hot minute! Naruto could get dressed and head to the station, it was only five minutes from his house, but getting to shinryokan involved switching trains at chikakunai, and those lines would not line up to save your life! It would make for a 25-minute trip once Naruto even set foot on the train. If he left immediately he still wouldn’t arrive at shinryokan until it was half past eleven. Then, once there, what would he and Sasuke do? Naruto begun to bite his nails.

He really wanted it to work out because he was suddenly very eager at Sasuke’s proposal. Not that he knew what to expect, really. Just seeing him would be enough. Sitting up straight, he typed:

_“but where would we go?”_

_“to a club”_

_“I’m not 20 :P”_

_“So?”_

_“they don’t let in people under 20 :o”_

_“no one’s going to ask”_

_“can’t you come here instead?”_

_“don’t worry about it.”_ Rapid fire incoming. _“No.”_

_“Why not?”_

_“do you want to see me or not?”_ Only after having waited another six minutes did this message appear in the conversation box. Naruto frowned at it. What was with this guy? Why was he making everything so complicated? He typed:

 _“yes, I want to see you. You know that I do.”_ But before hitting send, he hesitated. Naruto felt that he should say something he didn’t think Sasuke would want to hear. He should tell him how he’s not being fair; if Naruto wanted to treat himself right, he should say that. But, he wanted to see Sasuke and was thus afraid of scaring him off. _“yes, I want to see you. I can be at shinryokou at 23:59”_ He added fitfully: _“will you meet me?”_ His heart beating like crazy; Naruto quickly got dressed and thanked the heavens for his having taken a shower that evening. Smelling like a pile of laundry and with his hair all flat and lifeless, he’d be a hot mess. Grabbing his keys and his phone, it finally barked again.

 _“maybe”_ Sasuke, the sniper, fired away: _“depends on whether I’m close by”_

“Why do ya have to be such an ass…!?” Speaking through furiously gritted teeth, Naruto punched his reply in and hit send. _“If I get off at shinryokou and you’re not there I’m heading straight back home, ya know!”_ Since when did this guy have such a hold on him? Tired, Naruto rubbed his forehead and glared at the phone once it lit up again. He was seriously pressed for time now, all because Sasuke felt the need to act like an elusive rare fucking flower.

 _“lol did I hurt your feelings”_ Take the shot. _“I’m meeting you. On my way now.”_

 _“Good. Gotta run to make my train.”_ “Jerk…!”

*

“Where are you going, Naruto?” His father called from the couch. He was sitting under the arm of Kakashi, watching some romantic family movie.

“Out!”

“Wait a minute! When will you be back?!”

“Can’t stand around talking! ‘gotta run!” Naruto kicked his feet into his shoes and yanked his jacket on, already halfway out the door.

“Naruto!” Standing up, Minato was held back by his boyfriend whom shook his head. The door slammed.

*

He’d forgotten his scarf and everything. How could he forget everything? No hat, no mittens—fuck me, it was cold! Worse: a snowfall had begun to slowly drift toward the earth and sprinkled the dark heavens with lofty dunes, melting on his skin.

Naruto stood on the Shinryokou station platform, as promised, and though he had gotten slightly warmer on the second train, he was freezing soon as he stepped out again. There were plenty of people coming and going, but Sasuke was nowhere to be seen.

“Tch…!” Feeling silly, Naruto stuck his hands under his arms and retracted his head the best he could into his collar. Had he been stood up, after all? Then he heard it.

“NAAARUUUTOOO!” The blonde in question shot his head up in wild shock.

“NARUTO! HA-HA-HA!” Some group of drunk people were seriously screaming his name, so that it was heard plainly across the area. Coming down the stairs, he could see them, a group of nine; four men in suits were accompanying a three-cell of giggling, shrieking women in full hostess costume. They were incredibly drunk, the lot. Hesitantly, Naruto walked towards them, if only to abate the ruckus they were making.

“NARUTO! NARUTO! WHERE’RE YA, MAN!?” Approaching them, the blonde waved his hands in a gesture meant to imply his request for the use of inside-voices.

“Yes, yes!” he said. “I’m Naruto! You found me!” Frankly, he was sweating bullets, and laughing nervously. Approaching a drunken party in the middle of a Friday-night at Shinryokou wasn’t exactly an off-time hobby of his.

“AWW! IS THIS HIM? YOU DIDN’T SAY HE WAS A BLONDE! HOW CUTE!” A dolled-up woman squealed, hanging on a dazed-looking businessman. Naruto followed her line of sight, noticing a very frazzled Sasuke, wearing a suit with his tie made loose, and him being pushed forward by another man in the group.

“GO ON THEN! GREET HIM PROPERLY WITH A KISS!” The strange man yelled, attracting much attention by his mannerism alone, as well as infuriating the person currently under his command. They all looked like members of a boyband. So, Naruto thought, this was Sasuke’s team of coworkers. It was no wonder they were so excited to meet their kouhai’s stalker—he must be just one big joke to them. Naruto felt his cheeks burn with shame, and he for a lucid moment thought that he shouldn’t have come after all.

“Shut up already!” Sasuke snapped, leaning backwards to fight the grip that was pushing him ahead. “Can’t you tell we’re in a public place!?”

“Uhh, excuse me? But—who are all you people?” Shuffling his feet and knocking the snow off his soles, Naruto looked defiantly to Sasuke and his company. He felt intimidated by the situation, but he wasn’t one to back down just because he was a little bit scared. If he hurried, he could still catch the train back to Chikakunai, so if the sheep guy had definitely dragged him out here to make fun of him, Naruto would make sure and deal with it, no matter how much it hurt. “This was a bad idea, huh…?” he mumbled off-side.

“HOW COME YOU STOPPED CALLING THE OFFICE ONLY NOW?” The same coworker who’d been pushing at Sasuke now clung to him, draping across his shoulders although the raven-haired youth growled to be released, and he squawked at Naruto, as drunk on mirth as he was on spirits, at least. “I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING YOUR DAILY PLEAS OF DEVOTION FOR OUR CUTE SASUKE-KUN!”

“HA-HA-HA!” the group rejoiced stupidly.

“OUR ADORABLE SUBORDINATE!”

“ARE YOU GUYS GONNA GO HOME TO SASUKE’S PLACE AND DO THE DEED?” People were starting to pay notice to their short play on the platform.

“HA-HA-HA!” The women were nearly choking laughing, and their eyes were practically rolling in their heads with each pheasant-like cackle. Meanwhile, the businessmen, fully invested in this particular type of comedy, gaped with cramping jaws, inches from the escorts’ faces, as if to swallow their heads whole in one sudden panic-induced seizure.

“Eh? Hey…!” Taking a step back, Naruto’s cheeks flamed, and he looked to the person whom had invited him, to see whether he agreed with his nosy coworker—was it all just a game? Did he look down on Naruto? The odd groups of people were watching them now, whispering, all in inebriated humor.

“That’s enough!” Sasuke turned around, slapping the guy’s hands away to come dislodged. He stood himself in front of Naruto with his back toward him and addressed the group in a furious tone barely restrained. “You’ve crossed the line, already! Stop pretending you know anything about this person and making asses of yourselves!”

“Okay! Christ!” The men in the group looked at each other in feigned mockery of Sasuke’s reprimand, but failing to hide their spiking pulses due the alcohol in their veins. “Whatever, man. Your business is your business, right?”

“Open your mouth one more fucking time and I’ll punch your goddamn teeth out…!” Being pulled by the front of his jacket, he was forced into Sasuke’s direct vicinity. Though he was shorter than his elder, there was no denying who bossed whom around.

“. . .You’re a fighting drunk, you know that?” The man straightened his costume and tried to appear unfazed. The rest of the group stood quietly whispering in mockery of the raven-haired sheep guy.

Naruto’s eyes sparkled. No way, he thought, Sasuke stood up for me! Then, could it be that he actually cared about him somehow?

“Aren’t you cold?” Sasuke mumbled annoyedly once he turned to Naruto. “Here.” He took his own scarf off, the same red one he’d worn at Konoha West, and wrapped it around Naruto’s neck.

“Tight!” the blonde complained like he couldn’t breathe. He pulled on the soft red cloth. Sasuke smirked and tossed the end of the scarf straight over Naruto’s tussled face.

“Fix it yourself,” he told him. “Come on, let’s go.” Taking him by the arm, Sasuke said his curt goodbyes and dragged his guest away, going up the stairs he’d come from earlier and leaving his drunken coworkers to gawk.


	3. Former Mentor

“Here’s me.” Having accompanied Sasuke home through the electric city, Naruto was thankful they’d arrived at their destination since he was freezing, but was furthermore made rather nervous about following Sasuke all the way inside his apartment. Despite his earlier certainty, upon being alone with the sheep guy, somewhere in the city he didn’t recognize, he grew very anxious.

Seriously, how much did he know about this person? He’d met him twice, and one of those times their interaction had been remarkably brief. Now, he was allowing his taking him back to his place late at night? It seemed like the kind of thing you’d do if you were looking for trouble. Naruto’s thoughts went to his father and Kakashi at home.

Sasuke flicked his cigarette butt into the street and put one foot on the five-step brick staircase, leading up to his building’s main entryway.

“You coming?” he asked tiredly. Naruto cast a look about himself, scanning for escape routes, before refocusing his eyes on the sheep guy. Sasuke’s eyebrows rose in a show of flippant disregard.

“Yeah,” came the final call.

“Well, come on then.” Urging him, Sasuke’s hand was at the small of Naruto’s back, and they both went inside together.

*

Having gone up the stairs inside the old complex, Sasuke fiddled with his keys at his door.

_Uchiha_. So, that was his name, Naruto thought to himself.

This was crazy. He’d never followed anybody home before! What’s more: Sasuke was _drunk_! Everyone knows what that means. . .

Naruto swallowed hard and stiffened his upper lip--determined to do whatever it takes to keep Sasuke from hating him, or getting rid of him for that matter. He didn’t want to be a kid like he’d said, so he’d show him how grown up he really was.

The front door swung inwards under Sasuke’s weight pressing on it, and giving a small shout, he fell inside, tumbling to the floor. Naruto couldn’t keep from snorting at the awkward display, and he shut the door behind himself, turned the rusty lock.

“Oh, shut up…!” Sasuke commented grumpily while struggling to free himself of his coat. He stood up, grunted and strained, getting his hands stuck in the sleeves and thus forcing another noise of enjoyment out his guest. Black eyes glared at him, sparkling in the dim illumination afforded via the windows admitting street-sight by the night-light out, and in tinted all orange and grey in contrasts sharp and mild, blending and glowing and obscuring so that Sasuke slid into fantastically hued perspective only to slide back out again and vanish. His limbs and face flashed when he moved, and his eyes never came unfastened but stayed on Naruto the while he denuded himself of his outside wear.

The blonde, all jitters, copied him. Sasuke’s forehead wrinkled; he seemed confused, thinking perhaps that Naruto’s presence was off and surprising, and when he sank to the floor again, kicking off his shoes and breathing hard, he watched as the blonde carefully squatted before him in the hallway.

“You?” The raven-haired sheep tried his talents, and spoke against the discomfort in his throat. Clearing it, he was staring, all perplexity, and said again, hoarsely, “how’d you get in here?” Naruto scratched the side of his face.

“You invited me, then we walked, ya know. Don’t you remember?” Sasuke shook his head, raised his hand to the blonde’s cheek. Naruto started. The hand was like a bolt of lightning having struck, though it felt soft and slow. Frowning, the drunkard whispered:

“I said I’d never sleep with you.” But it was as if he was talking to no one.

“Hm.” Naruto felt sad, and he twitched upon hearing this reminder. See, he knew how the evening would play out; they’d fall asleep somehow, and then he’d leave and go home in the morning. That would be it. Sasuke would probably not want to talk to him for real after tonight. Now gloomy, he replied: “Who said anything about that? Do you--are you okay? Can I help you?” Naruto was gesturing to help Sasuke stand up.

“Even though it’s my job,” the raven murmured. “I can’t.” Another pang of pain--Naruto wished the stupid sheep would just shut up already!

“It’s fine if you don’t, ya know!” he stressed.

“I can’t sleep with you.” Suddenly reaching out, Sasuke, with his head lolling from side to side, fastened himself to and continued mumbling drunkenly into Naruto’s neck.

“Like I said. . .” The blonde didn’t know what to do. He had meagre experience with drunk people, not to mention their fits of giving formal speeches. More importantly: the dude was plastered to his neck, and it woke all different kinds of crazy butterflies in his stomach. He had to shift his body a little bit.

“Stay for breakfast, Naruto, stay!” the drunkard demanded.

“Yes, yes! I’ll stay.”

“You won’t pay me though; I don’t want to see your money.”

“What’re you talking about?” Naruto laughed nervously, looking every which way and becoming increasingly aware that his face was burning red.

“Promise!”

“Eh?”

“No money!” Leaning back to lay a stern look on him, Naruto found himself speechless as a result. He decided to simply agree with the lunatic, for lack of defiance. Sasuke looked like he was about to sock him in the face anyway.

“No--no money! Of course not!”

“. . .Help me up.”

The reason for why the sheep guy so strangely insisted on not being paid, and for what service exactly, Naruto could only guess at. Looking around his apartment, from what could be seen in the hallway at least, he was either very messy or very busy; the place was littered with paper bags containing old newspapers, the sort that’s delivered for free to your mailbox, and empty soda cans. Also, Naruto felt pebbles underneath his feet.

“Do you--need a bucket or anything?” he asked, pulling Sasuke’s arm over his own shoulders to steady him. They stood slowly.

“Tch!” Practically hissing, Sasuke decidedly hated the idea. “Shut up. I’m not as drunk as you think I am.”

“Well sure but, isn’t that just what a drunk person would say though, ya know?” The sheep guy didn’t seem to get the joke, and only mock-laughed at Naruto, who himself considered it a homerun. Baseball references--he knew them.

They took their sweet time getting to the bedroom at the end of the short hallway, and once there, Sasuke fell heavily unto his unmade bed, bouncing on the springs. There was a plate on the nightstand and a pair of pajama pants Naruto recognized lay on the floor, but as far as he could tell, the sheep guy didn’t look to be the least bit bothered by the state of his home.

No sober person, Naruto reasoned, could shamelessly flaunt their weak personality like this to someone they barely knew. In that moment, he was a little jealous of the guy’s bold nerve.

“Naruto,” Sasuke interrupted his daydreaming by pulling on his hand. He was wearing a bitter little grimace that Naruto found ridiculous.

“Ah--you’re gonna tip me over, ya know.” The blonde was forced to lean forward to brace himself, and was thereof brought close to Sasuke’s face. Slack-jawed, he noticed that besides the stench of beer, Sasuke smelled like, really good. His pupils dilated, and his heart began to race.

“What I do--does it bother you?” Mumbling, Naruto could barely make out what Sasuke had said.

“Ha?” The guy’s scent—it made him want to fall forward.

“Don’t be a smartass. You said--that I was a whore. . .Didn’t you?”

“Huh? Oh. Sasuke, don’t worry about that, I was just confused in the beginning, is all. I totally get it now, though. You’re not like that.” Expecting quite the opposite effect in Sasuke, instead Naruto was fearfully startled when the other suddenly screamed in his face.

“Don’t tell me what to worry about!” Sasuke cried.

“Woah!” Dodging a punch aimed at his head, Naruto stood back and the sheep guy, with surprising dexterity, followed to push him against the wall, albeit clumsily.

“You don’t know what I’m like! You don’t know the first thing about me!” From their close proximity, Naruto saw the ignited anger in the sheep guy’s expression drown, just as quickly as it had been born. Sasuke shook his head sadly. “So, don’t pretend like you do! . . .Fuck!” His forehead connected with Naruto’s shoulder with a soft thud. The next moment, sobbing sounded in his ear.

“Sasuke, I-- “he begun, putting his hands gently on the body leaning on him “--you’re right, I don’t know half as much as I’d like about you. But I wanna know, okay? I like you! . . .I like you a lot, actually, and I--don’t even know why I’m telling you because you’re probably gonna forget it, but like--I don’t care if we sleep together, I just--wanna be near you.” A pale face lifted up to see him, carefully, sniffing and frowning, bashful of his tears even in a stupor. Sasuke’s fingers clawed at Naruto’s chest and the raven pinned him with a suspicious glare. “Ya know?”

“. . .What’re you talking’bout?” Swallowing his nerves, Naruto stuttered:

“I--I like you.”

“Hn!” The sheep guy all of a sudden started laughing. “You like me?” Growing in confidence, or perhaps disgust, Sasuke wiped his tears and tilted his head; he smirked charmingly, aware of his every asset. The silver loop winked in his ear. “Even though I’m someone who’s paid to sleep with people?” Long, slender fingers ran teasingly up Naruto’s chest to reach his head; once there, they toyed with a blonde curl, felt the quick pulse.

“I don’t care what you do!” Naruto stated in a hush.

“Even though I’m a person who holds people like I love them when I don’t, and it doesn’t mean a thing?” The situation was dawning on him; Naruto recalled the things he’d said when Sasuke had slept in his bed. “Do you still like me?” The sheep guy was glaring again, biting off the ends of his words and spitting them out. “How would you even know whether I feel it too, when I’ve got my arms around you at night?” he asked. “It’s so easy for me, right? Since I do it for money all the time, ‘might as well not have a heart.” Turning his back, Sasuke was surprised to be held stuck by the sudden action of Naruto.

“You’re wrong!” he called, preventing the raven’s flight by a grip on his wrist.

“Oi! Let go of me!” Sasuke’s eyes went wide with indignation.

“I don’t doubt you at all! I’d never think those things ya just said! That’s why--look, it doesn’t matter to me what you wanna do! I mean, not that it doesn’t matter whatsoever, just the stuff about your job and like--whether you wanna be my boyfriend or not. Things like that. . .It doesn’t matter, so long as you don’t hate me or yourself! I definitely don’t want either of those things to happen!”

“What’s that? You want me to be your boyfriend?” Sasuke grinned, covering his mouth with the one free hand and stooping briefly. Naruto leveled a determined stare at him (though his heart was still going crazy, and he was so not buying his own tough-guy act.)

“So what if I do?” he barked.

“Kid, have you ever even _had_ a boyfriend before? What about a girlfriend?”

“Stop making fun of me already! We’re around the same age, aren’t we? If I’m a kid, then you are too!”

“Tch! Let go.” Releasing him, the sheep guy looked either too stubborn or too proud to rub his wrist, instead he twisted and tried it for a minute, obviously in pain.

“. . .Sorry.” Naruto apologized quietly.

“Shut up,” was the whispered reply. Sasuke walked over to the one window letting into his bedroom, and he stood himself there with his arms folded over his chest. Only watching the snow fall in the pale glow from outside, Naruto couldn’t help but feel like Sasuke had forgotten he was even still there. The sheep guy looked lonely, Naruto thought. He swallowed nervously, and asked: “do you want me to leave?”

Not that he’d any idea on where to go, Naruto still felt that accommodating the sheep guy’s needs, weird though they may be, was infinitely more important than not freezing to death somewhere--for some strange reason.

He pouted, stuck his hands in his pockets. Sasuke turned his head in his direction, with alarm playing on his profile. He was lit up by the flame-colored artificial light, and his bangs fell, hiding his face. Biting his lip, he soon said with pathetic emphasis: “no.” And this to Naruto’s great delight!

“Well, then--what do you want me to do?” With renewed hope, Naruto made his tentative way closer to the sheep guy. Sasuke walked in place upon his approach and shook his head.

“I don’t know— ”he looked back out the little window “—maybe you should apologize properly.”

“Eh?” Naruto didn’t follow. Apologize about what? “What d’ya mean?” Sasuke started. He looked at his visitor with a chill which repulsed Naruto, and willed him to retract the steps he had taken. Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, and his lips teased at some unaddressed confession but would not let out a sound.

“Nevermind,” he whispered. “It doesn’t matter— ”the sheep stormed unsteadily off “—not one bit.” Naruto followed him.

“Just tell me what I did wrong!” Hunching over the sink, and downing a full glass of water, Sasuke ignored the other. His furious visage bore into the blonde from sideways while he drank, and it offset Naruto further to see the heretofore enchanting man in the stale lighting of the kitchen, and with an expression on him like a bird debating its options.

“(Gulping) don’t worry about it! It’s not like you care, right?”

“Care about what?” Sasuke wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his dress jacket, studying it for a second and stretching the fabric in his hand before violently wringing the garment off of himself. He furiously let it hang on the backrest of an old chair; with deliberate motions he put it thus, and meanwhile grimaced fiercely. He turned back round towards Naruto.

“. . .You were right,” he bit out. Naruto didn’t know what it was he’d been allegedly right about, but he had a keen sense that it’d been a mistake to suppose whatever it was, as it would appear from Sasuke in his homefield to be the heart of his shortcomings. The blonde shifted his feet. “You were right about everything. What, you think I’m proud of myself, _dumbass_? Do you think that I chose this? Why do you think it is--that I decided to reply to your stupid texts tonight, huh? Because I’m into you?”

“I—”

“No! That is not what it is!” The anger which had been presented then was reigned in, and in its place, there emerged a type of serene sadness with which Naruto was unfamiliar. It frightened him. It spoke distinctly of loss. “I just thought that if I saw you again, I could feel the way you made me feel on Christmas eve, that if I brought you here, I would somehow—forget myself.” When Sasuke approached the baffled blonde to see him from up close, Naruto’s breath hitched and he was overcome by the situation.

“I’m sorry,” he begun. “But I have to go now.”

“Stay. Please.”

“I’m— ”Sasuke lent closer, his lips brushing Naruto’s “—I’m so sorry!” Breaking free of the strange, new development, Naruto threw himself into the hallway, picked up his shoes and took his jacket in hand before prying open the rusty lock and dashing into the stairwell.

“Wait!” called the sheep guy behind him, but Naruto could not bear to listen. “Naruto!” The blonde flew down the stairs and out the front door into the cold winter air and the snowfall. He gasped and covered his mouth, then he ran away.

*

Naruto lay in bed because he was exhausted. It was Saturday afternoon, and he had not, since getting home at two in the morning, poked his head out from underneath his blanket. He’d been lucky not to have had to sleep at the train station. Freezing to death would’ve been one hard hand too many for him to handle right now.

“ _Kon-kon_!” Naruto’s phone had gone off several times already since he’d left Sasuke’s place. It was strange considering how desperately he’d wished for the sheep bastard to talk to him before, now that his desire had turned to revulsion upon being granted that very wish. He knew the messages were from him, but he didn’t want to find out what they meant.

What was it that had scared him so much?

Partly, he owed his fear to the volume of Sasuke’s voice, and the distraught tremble it had born, but most of all Naruto had feared his own part in the drama; his contribution to Sasuke’s life as it revealed itself to him through the man’s choice description was bigger than he’d hoped. Only, his impact hadn’t been of a positive sort at all.

He’d struck at Sasuke, critically wounded him, without even meaning to. That was what he’d learnt last night, when he’d seen the sheep guy’s apartment, the way he tended to his suit, his drunken condition, and the things he’d said out loud all spoke of a difficult situation that Sasuke himself was solely aware of.

Naruto didn’t know enough about the adult realm to communicate with him as equals, certainly not as more than that. Sasuke had been right to laugh at him, to call him a kid—he was right to.

“I’m such an idiot…!” He pulled his blanket tighter around himself.

*

“Naru-chan~? It’s dinner time, baby; ’time to get up!” Minato was knocking gently on Naruto’s door. Kakashi came to join him, having just finished setting the table.

“He’s not up yet?” he asked quietly, looking at his partner whom shook his head in response, gesturing despairingly at the door. “Hm. He just needs a firm hand is all. Naruto!” _Bang! Bang! Bang!_ “Your dad said it’s dinner time! You hear that?”

“I’m not hungry!” called a raspy voice from yon the separative object. Kakashi smirked; Minato clasped his hands.

“Stop screwing around before the food gets cold! Jeez,” turning toward the worried father, Kakashi jutted his thumb at the door knowingly. “Watch out for this one today, eh?”

“Do you think he might be sick?” Minato followed closely behind his lover as he retreated, ever showing the greatest devotion. “He hasn’t been out of his room all weekend, and he won’t let me in or say what’s bothering him!” Kakashi, having brought up the parade back to the kitchen, rounded the workspace island, and sat down at the table, readying himself to eat. He waved his hands dismissively.

“Pah!” he scoffed. “He ain’t sick. ‘just being a brat.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Minato sat, but couldn’t spare the capacity for food. He gazed over his shoulder at Naruto’s door. Kakashi had helped himself to a portion of mashed potatoes, gravy and meatballs with lingonberry, and he was licking his lips whilst fixedly anticipating the cessation of either one of two things: Minato’s helicopter parenting, or Naruto’s seclusion.

Stuffing his face with food, he glared while his lover fidgeted to the creaking of his chair. This would not do. Kakashi put his scarf back in proper order, and rose from his seat. Having strode up to the thing, he opened the door to the little shit’s bedroom.

“Jesus!” Nearly knocking Naruto to the ground as he was about to emerge at the same exact moment his stepfather would fetch him, Kakashi was startled beside himself. He chewed aggrievedly. “Come on. Dinner’s ready,” he grumbled.

“Yeah, yeah; I’m coming, ain’t I?” The two sat at the table. Naruto was a hot mess. His hair was sticking up in every which direction and was in need of washing. His face looked lusterless and swollen with sleep. He hadn’t dressed himself for the day; in fact, he wore the same pajamas he’d put on in the early hours of Saturday: a piss-yellow ensemble, long-sleeved and long-legged, with a lateral black stripe and Bluce Ree in dark relief on the chest, posing boastfully behind a guard.

“Naruto,” Minato had on his paternal note, and stood to encroach his son. He touched their foreheads together. Naruto sputtered and squinted his eyes, reeling backwards. “Are you feeling alright? Do I need to call the doctor for you? You do feel a little hot.”

“You don’t need to call the doctor just because the kid is feeling out of it.” Kakashi interjected, stabbing at his mashed potatoes. Naruto rubbed his eyes.

“I’m not sick, dad. Thanks though. . .What even is this stuff?” He then set his attention to the food placed before him. “You’re having jam with potatoes and meat?” Insolently prodding at his meal, a smirk twitched in the corner of his mouth.

“We figured you could use some Scandinavian grub, since you’ve been looking so weakly and feeble as of late.” Kakashi joked, laughing together with Minato and stabbing his elbow into his son.

“Ah— ”Naruto stuttered “—Yeah, cool, thanks. Ouch, also.”

“Honey, your phone’s ringing.” Minato thought to be thoughtful, passing Naruto the pan with meatballs. “Eat more,” he commanded.

“It’s not; It’s a text.” Naruto, with firm application, pushed the pan back away from himself.

“Either way, it looks like somebody might be trying to reach you.” The meatballs hopped in the pan, and nearly fell into the potato pot.

“I don’t particularly care…!” Venturing a final blow, the deprived son shoved at the pan, and finally the battle was won. Minato scowled and put it down.

“What, is this some kinda holiday to you? You’re rude no matter to whom now?” Naruto sighed at the futility of his stepdad’s reprimand.

“No,” he amended. “It’s just that there’s someone I’d rather not talk to right now that keeps texting me over and over.”

“Oh?” Minato looked back and forth between his partner and his son. “Is it a boy?” He lit up in a smile before a cloud came over him. “Or even a girl? Being interested in girls is also perfectly normal, after all!” He was floundering in an obvious way.

“Minato…!” Kakashi squeezed his head in his hands.

“It’s—uh. . .” Naruto tilted onto his elbows, and lent over his plate in this manner; it was in the aim at securing a semblance of privacy for himself. He didn’t know how to explain to his parents who Sasuke was. Not being certain himself of their relationship, how could he describe it?

“Whoever he is, it must be about something important considering he’s calling and calling,” Kakashi commented sourly. He wasn’t a fan of his stepson’s ducking behavior—resented, in fact, ‘dishonesty’ as he themed a lack of earnestness. Of course, not being upfront one hundred percent of the time does not make one out to be a liar, but to Kakashi it might as well do. Social life was easier on him than he realized.

“I will answer him, just not now,” replied Naruto before tasting his food. It was surprisingly good. He offered his dad a shocked expression to which Minato inclined his head gratefully.

“Why can’t you do it now?”

“Because, I don’t feel like it, alright?” Naruto had had enough with the interrogation. His business was his own private affair, and he knew enough to understand that it didn’t concern anyone other than himself and Sasuke. And the fact was, that his head spun at the idea of speaking with him. The wound was still too fresh; it wouldn’t make sense to explain himself now, nor listen to what it was Sasuke was desperate to tell him. The only thing that would come of it would be a repeat of Friday, because Naruto would freeze and stutter before he knew how to consider the sheep guy—and his worldly situation.

Minato sensed the gloom building in his son, and played the diplomat. Synchronous to his arbitrative little tilting of his head and rising brow, Kakashi sensed danger in the air. His eyes fluttered and stole glances at his step-son, gauging the harm done.

“. . .We’re fighting,” admitted the son, and the words seemingly exploded into the sudden stillness which had overtaken the room. His parents straightened in their seats. “If he wants to talk to me, he’ll just have to wait until I’ve had a chance to figure out what I’m even feeling, because all I know right now is that I’m confused, and angry and frankly--I don’t think he’s all that interested anyway. So whatever.” Excusing himself, Naruto picked up his plate to wrap it in plastic and put in the fridge.  Minato tried telling him that he didn’t have to leave, and to please finish his meal, but it was no use. Naruto was torn between processing his frightening experience and facing it immediately; the space under the blanket offered sweet refuge.

*

He couldn’t believe what he was about to do.

_"Pick up"_ The dial tone in his ear repeated until the line disconnected. Sucking his teeth and staring at the bright display, he debated whether a constant barrage of phone calls was in order.

The cold evening air picked at his nose and his ears, and he walked in place to stay warm. Sighing audibly, his breath floated before him like mist. A second later, he concluded to think better than to simply terrorize his object of devotion, figuring it should do him no good, and he looked despairingly at the white family home in front of him.

Sasuke ran his hand through his hair, and put his phone in his back pocket.

“Come on— ”psyching himself up in order to fill the part, he jumped in place a couple of times like he’d bound to feel more courageous “—Hello! Hi! I’m here to--what am I here to do?—fucking—woo your son.” Sasuke came to a jumping halt. It would not make the cut to explain his visit by order of marriage; he wasn’t insane.

He clapped his hands over his face and spun in circles a few times, groaning so that his voice echoed amid the cozy dwellings.

“Idiot...!” he spat. “Why don’t I just bring my bankbook and criteria too? And a pig or something. Maybe a soda. _Shiny!_ They’ll say and let me have their child.” Sasuke facepalmed hard. He had to pussy up, and so thinking, he set his features in straight lines and walked up the short stairs, unto the porch and to the door. But when he rose his hand up to knock he hesitated, second-guessing himself.

He should go. This was out of line: showing up at his house like a stalker when Naruto had already made it clear he wasn’t welcome there anymore. Never mind the blonde brat had stalked him first, Sasuke thought with a supposing expression.

“Keh…!” He turned to leave in the end, and retreated from the porch he’d been idling on. “So stupid.” However, before he’d had sufficient time to escape. . .

*

The polished white door opened noiselessly into the evening, and there, with one foot on the stairs and one stuck in the street, frozen in motion, with his mouth gaping in shock, there stood a young stranger on Minato’s front steps.

He looks absolutely terrified, the lord of the house construed from watching the way he gawked and seemed to float above the ground.

“Hello?” he greeted him hesitantly, and keeping a firm hold on the door, Minato squinted his eyes at the general area, scouting for further suspicious company.

“Uh, hello,” the stranger replied, raising his hand in greeting. Catching himself, he took his sneaker-clad foot off Minato’s step, and stood himself properly facing the man who called on him.

“Do you need something?” Minato chanced a tiny smile. Was this some kind of scam or a robbery? The neighborhood had been a safe place for families since he’d moved here though, and he couldn’t imagine there being burglars the same age as his son—certainly not any as handsome as this one either.

“I, uh--I was hoping to speak with—with Naruto, if I may.”

“Oh?” Minato commented. He’d taken notice of the propriety with which the stranger spoke, and he liked it. “Are you a friend of his? I don’t recognize you, I’m afraid.”

“U—uuh. . .” Sasuke hesitated to call himself Naruto’s friend, and had to lower his gaze. The fuck was he supposed to do? This was Naruto’s dad properly accosting him on the front porch, and he’d no clue how to define his relationship with his son. Knowing that things may turn ugly if he didn’t choose his words with care, Sasuke made an attempt to appear confident. He’d come too far to back down and go home; Naruto must learn the truth. “I—”

“Uchiha?” Sasuke was interrupted, and his head shot up in surprise when his surname was spoken from behind Minato. Kakashi gently pushed his lover aside, and gaped at the young man outside.

The P.E. teacher was in shock, and thereof he walked hurriedly to the familiar person and took hold of his jacket. Angrily at first, he wrung the lapels in his grip and sought answers in the face of the stranger on the staircase. But, soon—he saw that he was mistaken, and his demeanor softened in embarrassment. “Sasuke,” he stated.

“It’s--good to see you again, Mr. Hatake.” Sasuke clasped Kakashi’s forearms awkwardly, as he was not sure with what to do this development, he pushed him carefully away and kept him there that he may not try and embrace him—or punch him neither for that part, in the event that the mood would. “Ah—how’ve you been?”

Kakashi would not take his eyes off of the young stranger. He stood holding him, although he could certainly tell that he was making him uncomfortable. There was simply no helping it.

“How are you?” he finally managed to ask, stressing the fabric in his hands and completely ignoring Sasuke’s pleasantries.

“I’m well, thanks. Uh, well, I mean, as well as I can be. It’s--a difficult time of the year and all, not just for me, naturally, that’s not what—um—thank you--for asking. And, how are you?”

“Are you getting enough sleep?”

“What?” Sasuke laughed, looking to the side. He tried to politely pry himself free but was unsuccessful.

“You look a little pale.”

“Thank you, but I’m fine. Besides, I’m--always pale.”

“. . .Come inside.” Kakashi requested sadly.

“No, I couldn’t.”

“Please. I’m asking you, it would mean a lot to catch up--”

“No!” In a fit of emotion, Sasuke lost control of himself and raised his voice, twisting away in the end. He backed further into the street, realizing he’d made a mistake by visiting; he’d not anticipated Kakashi’s keenness to discuss dead matters. He would not partake. “I’m sorry,” he said, breathlessly. “But I really can’t come inside.” Beginning to retreat, he was adamant to leave, and so bobbed his head in a sort of semi-bow, casually showing respect for the household he’d disturbed. “I can’t do it, Mr. Hatake.”

“Not even for me?” Just as the atmosphere was sure to take an unsalvageable turn and Sasuke would escape, a familiar, raspy voice spoke loudly from the porch. Sasuke peered almost fearfully over his shoulder.

Naruto stood leaning against the post, with his arms crossed and a neutral look about him. He watched Sasuke in quiet anticipation, and the air became electrified with what passed between them.

“This is your friend, Naruto? The one you’re fighting with?” Minato wondered then, pointing to Sasuke.

“If you can even call him that.” Naruto lazily scratched his eye while he spoke. It wasn’t an attractive grimace he was making; nonetheless, Sasuke was mesmerized.

“I wasn’t about to let him in, no offense, Sasuke, but then it seemed like Kakashi actually knows him, too.”

“Yeah, I know him, alright.” Determined to a fault, Kakashi walked up to the spot Sasuke now occupied, and he put his arm around his shoulders before pushing and shoving him back toward the house. “And you _will_ come inside and let us put a meal in you at the very least. Jesus—you look like you could use one.” Naruto frowned at hearing Kakashi’s invitation. Sasuke now did pale and stared from one person to the next, clearly bewildered.

“You know him?” the blonde youth blurted. His stepdad looked to him, all surprise. He pressed Sasuke in his grip.

“Yes,” he said, emphatically. “I know Sasuke. He was one of my kids between 2014 and 17. Come on, buddy, it’s alright.” Inclining his head towards the person in question, Kakashi spoke softly to him, urging him like he was a small animal or a child. Naruto was beyond amazed.

“One of your kids?” He looked to his father for clarification.

“Kakashi was mentor of his class—before he was mentor of yours, sweetie.”

“No, I know what he does; I just didn’t think that—” he swung his arms in Sasuke’s direction, hopelessly baffled.

“Small world, huh?” Kakashi beamed at him. “You like lingonberry, Sasuke? You’ll try it; it’s fantastic!”

Sasuke had somehow allowed himself being led all the way into the hallway. He didn’t have much of a choice. Naruto noticed that he wouldn’t look at him anymore, and this pained him, though he’d not admit it.

“I’ll make some coffee for us! You’ll drink coffee, won’t you, Sasuke-kun?” Minato somehow reasoned that he’d have a conversation whilst walking out of the room and into the kitchen. The unwilling houseguest didn’t even know whether or not he was expected to answer him.

“It’s so good to see you…!”

“Oh!” Of a sudden, he’d been trapped in that dreaded embrace after all. Struggling to breathe right, he patted Kakashi’s back. The man had fallen on him like a predator after a moment of silent contemplation, and Naruto struggled to make sense of a behavior he’d not seen before Kakashi had laid eyes on Sasuke of all people. “Yeah,” the sheep guy squawked. “’Good to see you too!” Naruto’s eyes were roving across the scene made, and Sasuke tried to explain in omission. He cleared his throat, and Kakashi finally stepped back to look at him. “If you would—give me and Naruto just one minute. . .” Sasuke forced a smile.

“. . .Right! No, of course! I’ll be— ”Kakashi became all animation and understanding, pointing behind himself and back toward the kitchen “—yeah, I’ll be—just—right over here. Okay? Okay!” However, he could not leave before casting many second and third looks over his shoulder, luckily Minato was there to take his arm and care for him in the kitchen.


	4. Forlorn Brother

Naruto shuffled his feet and looked in every which direction save for the one which would reveal his unlikely guest, along with his particular, frightening humor.

“. . .So. . .” A full minute passed, during which time Sasuke exercised his patience. He’d not at all resolved to divulge any secrets nor otherwise private affairs for Naruto’s stepfather, and so was glad to be rid of him. He’d felt his decorum abate under the goading wing; now, on the other hand, while his pulse may not necessarily steady, it at least would successfully sustain him throughout his trial. Prodding experimentally at the conversation, he hoped for the best.

“He seems to really like you,” Naruto exclaimed, avoiding any and all eye contact. “It’s like you’ve got him wrapped around your little finger or something, ya know.”

“Hard to believe, right?” mumbled Sasuke. A pregnant silence filled the air between them, and both shifted hesitantly in place, waiting for either one to speak. When Naruto did, Sasuke very nearly erupted in laughter for relief’s sake.

“Look, I’m sorry for not picking up my phone—”

“No, no. It’s fine!”

“—It’s just that I didn’t know what to say.”

“No?” Uchiha fixed him with a look, and the blonde stuttered, finally consenting to meet his gaze. “You couldn’t think of anything to say to me?”

“Uh, I didn’t know what you wanted me to say.” At the other’s reply, Sasuke felt that he was making light of the situation as a whole. It upset him, and he therefore scoffed, raking his hand through his hair.

“I wanted you to say—whatever you wanted to say,” he stated bluntly. Naruto blinked at him, dumbly. “Do you think we could talk somewhere—maybe a little more private?”

“Sure! Uh— ”seemingly shot out of a cannon from the look of his disheveled appearance and abrupt change of attitude, Naruto all but curtsied in compliance “—let’s go in my room.”

*

Having entered the little bedroom first, Naruto was subject to hear Sasuke close the door on them both. The blinds were undrawn and like on Christmas eve when last the sheep had come to see him, it was dark except for the glow from the lamp post outside. The blonde stared at it and listened to the faint sound of Sasuke’s clothes rustling behind him. The night was to his mind highly bizarre—he couldn’t imagine how Sasuke had come to materialize in his bedroom after weeks of envisioning it happening. It was like a dream; with eyes trained on the picture of his bed under the blinding window, he hoped not to wake. He heard Sasuke clear his throat carefully and he shivered.

“. . .Naruto, please don’t do this.” At the sorrowful mumble that projectiled from behind him, Naruto was helpless to avoid spinning around and gracing its originator his full attention. A part of him, pollutive in its cowardice, said to steer clear of the lovely creature by the door; that his hands were talons and Naruto’s skin newborn membrane. But, how could he?

“Do what?” he asked.

“Ignore me. Don’t do that.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll stop now.”

“Why have you been, though? I was an asshole on Friday, I admit, but I’ve been trying to get in touch with you to apologize and explain things since then. . .Considering your enthusiasm from before, when you were practically stalking me, I’d figured it would require more, somehow, to scare you off.” Sasuke lent his back to the wall. He looked standoffish, grumpy lines adorned his brows. “Was that just crazy thinking on my part?” he asked dryly, letting the back of his head fall against the wall as well. He studied the ceiling.

Naruto was insecure. He rubbed his arms and inly panicked for his lack of an explanation.

Many complicated emotions welled up inside whenever the image of Sasuke revived, when his voice sounded in his ears, when dark eyes pointed themselves at him, but the words to describe his mixture of knee-buckling desire, adoration and alarm would not present themselves. He felt like vomiting all over the attempt, to be honest.

“I was not _stalking_ you; that’s an epidemic, ya know,” he stuttered quietly.

“I said you were _practically_ stalking me.”

“Well, in all but actuality, I’m offended!” The two glared at each other for a while. “I just—didn’t want to lose contact with you.”

“And now? You feel like getting involved with me isn’t such a great idea anymore? ‘Because I was mean to you? Well, I’m sorry; I didn’t realize how sensitive you were or I’d have been more careful—”

“No, that’s definitely not what I want! And I didn’t know how sensitive I was, so sorry about that! Alright? And I can handle your meanness just fine, asshole, you’ve been mean this whole time ‘it’s not deterred me until the other day, so obviously it’s due to something else, right?!”

“What is it due to?” Sasuke asked quietly.

“That’s—like—I don’t know. Like—what was it that I did wrong?” Naruto looked Sasuke in the eye then, as he began to discern a figure in his heart where before there was a maelstrom. He’d lost control of the situation at Sasuke’s place, and it had turned into a disaster—he needed to know what had happened.

Sasuke’s eyebrows rose in inquiry. He straightened his back before saying in a careful tone:

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” A reply which alleviated Naruto’s concerns none.

“Then how come you got so angry at me!?” Wrapping his arms about himself, he had to fight just to complete the conversation. He’d no idea he was so delicate; he felt like crying and getting right back under his blanket. “You were shouting and stomping around and shit! It really freaked me out, ya know!”

Sasuke looked at him in silence for a while, appearing as if setting his thoughts in order. Then, he dropped his gaze to the floor.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare you, I really didn’t.”

“Then why were you acting like that? If it wasn’t because I’d done something wrong, and you weren’t trying to scare me—why?” Naruto could see the unwillingness to reply on Sasuke’s body, on his features. There was a fierce debate ongoing within him at this moment, and at the end of it, the young man in question drew his shoulders up and wet his lips.

“I was angry with you, but not because you actually deserved it. There was a lot of stuff going through my mind at the time, and the bottom line is: it pissed me off. I figured it was your fault, because that was most convenient for me. What with your nonsensical adoration, I told myself it was okay to be crass with you because you wouldn’t mind it. . .I realized I’d been taking my issues out on you not until you ran away—a thing you were right to do, actually! You don’t deserve to be mistreated, and you were right to shut me up by going! I am—truly sorry for having been the one—to neglect you!” Sasuke’s hand quickly flew to his hair and raked it anxiously back. His voice was straining; it was likely that either he had not apologized many times in his life, or he’d at least not done so with such emotion.

Naruto was struck, not expecting an apology for what had happened but rather an explanation, and that not with regret. Not to mention what Sasuke had admitted to—it sent Naruto absolutely careering.

Sasuke felt protective of him?

“. . .That explains a lot.” Naruto said, causing a surprised little huff to escape the other man. “I did feel attacked; I just couldn’t figure out what I’d done to deserve it.”

“Nothing— ”Sasuke shook his head “—nothing. You shouldn’t worry about that…!”

“But like—don’t think I’m settling for _the bottom line_ , as you call it; I want us to talk this out. Before everything got out’a control on Friday, I mean, I told ya—how I felt about you. . .And, I may not understand it all that well but, it hasn’t changed, ya know. I still mean what I said.”

Sasuke nodded cooperatively, and unless Naruto was seeing things in the dim lighting, he thought he could make out the sheep smiling. He squinted, but the image was gone.

“. . .I don’t think that there’s—anything shameful about what you do for a living,” the blonde began. “I’m sorry for having insulted your honor or whatever and indirectly reducing you to like—a base term. Clearly, you have every right in the world to belittle me and dangle your own maturity in my face.”

“Dangle my what?” Sasuke snorted.

“Oh my god, shut up? I’m trying to talk about how immature I am here, so you can’t make stupid jokes right now, ‘kay?”

“Message received.”

“Cool. . .I’m sorry for being an insensitive prick, Sasuke.”

“. . .Yeah, don’t worry about it. I should probably be called a whole litany of names by now.”

“No, seriously.”

“I am being serious.”

“. . .You’re so angsty. The bottom line, full story this time: what was it that made you so angry you wanted to take it out on me?”

“Why do you want to know so bad?”

“Because you owe it to me, jerk!” As an effect to Naruto’s no-bullshit command, Sasuke glared for a stubborn minute. Realizing he couldn’t win when the blonde refused to give in, he scoffed and cracked his knuckles.

“You want the dark, troubled past spiel?” he asked sullenly. “You hit the jackpot then.” On a mission, Sasuke moved further into Naruto’s bedroom, sitting himself down on his bed, and waiting pointedly for the other to join him. The blonde did, hesitantly sinking down next to him but making sure there was a good meter to spare between them. He noted how Sasuke’s hair and body swayed and shifted helplessly towards him when he sat down, the weight of his presence had such an impact. This made Naruto’s blood race, and he experienced the same urgency to leave that he’d done on Friday, but besides that—he now understood the importance of his remaining.

His skin heated and tensed when, while looking sideways at his guest he was not returning the gesture, Naruto was compelled to marvel at the attractive composition which laterally presented itself.

Sasuke sighed deeply and opened his molded mouth but wavered to speak. Soon, he smirked, shaking his head at the humiliating confession preemptively.

“I was angry because—heh! —because of how you make me _feel_ ,” he finally admitted with some force. “When I received your assignment, it wasn’t all that unusual, actually; parents use our agency all the time for their children’s sake. I’ve been with Sheep Bros—ugh—for like a year now—ever since finishing junior high. So, when I arrived here, I wasn’t in the mindset, let’s call it, to be reminded of what normalcy could be; I thought—that my own everyday had drifted so far from that idea, that to start, I didn’t even know how to handle all the frustration I was to put up with. I felt attacked, too—criticized—for the services I’d become used to providing, to help my career. And it got me reminiscing about that time in school, when I’d first been offered the job, and how nothing had turned out the way they’d promised me it would. . .It made me mad to compare myself to you.”

“. . .I don’t really understand, but—can’t you just quit, ya know? Is there some reason you can’t stop the way your life is going and like—this is gonna sound stupid, but—follow your dreams?”

“Hm,” Sasuke snorted. “Unfortunately, my dreams were made irrelevant a while back.” He looked at Naruto, smirking and fidgeting with his hair. It was apparent that he was keeping a secret.

“Why?” unabashedly questioned the blonde.

“I’m sure Kakashi will tell you after I leave.”

“But I don’t want to hear it from him!” Naruto protested in a rush, and as he worried that Sasuke would decide to walk out of the room, he made a grab for his hand. It was cold, but the skin was especially smooth. “I want to hear it from you, Sasuke. I mean— “they both looked down at their joined hands and blushed awkwardly “—uh—that—if it’s definitely too painful, then you don’t have to tell me, of course. I won’t let Kakashi sell you out either; I won’t ask. All I want— “Naruto, in an amorous daze, ran the pad of his thumb lightly across the back of Sasuke’s hand, and his mouth became awfully dry “—really is to make up with you, so—so don’t say anything else, ya know.”

A million thoughts crashed and coalesced inside of Naruto’s head: metamorphosing into some gleaming, long-fingered monstrosity at seeing the expression worn by Sasuke at the conclusion of this amendment. He was staring at him with lips parted and surprise, for once, dominated his fragile features.

“But I owe it to you,” he argued.

“You don’t owe me a thing, sheep bastard.” In spite of these hard words, Naruto smiled gently. Understanding that it was not because Sasuke had hated him that he’d been angry, but rather pertaining to the opposite, Naruto felt light as air, and a storm of heat raged in the pit of his stomach.

Sasuke brought their faces closer together.

“Well, that’s very noble of you, mega-loser, but have you considered the cathartic possibilities of hearing me out?” They could feel each other’s breaths waft; the heat from their burning cheeks radiating when Naruto gaped at his seductively smiling bedmate. “Maybe I want to tell you.”

Swallowing hard, Naruto nodded, and noticed suddenly that Sasuke had been stroking his hand since earlier.

“I’ve not told this before, not to anyone who wasn’t a policeman at least, so—don’t make me regret it.”

“Sasuke—whatever you want to tell me, I promise, it doesn’t leave this room—and I _always_ keep my promises…!” Sasuke snorted lightly, his teeth twinkling in the light.

“You’re too much…!” he cleared his throat before resuming: “when I was in eighth grade— ”here he made another brief pause, inspecting Naruto’s face and form, searching for any reason to abort, yet upon finding none, he tensely applied himself, nonetheless tinged in the scarlet-colored evidence of guilt “—my brother beat our mom to death in the kitchen. Evidently, dad came home and tried to stop him at some point, but Itachi swung a meat tenderizer at his head and that was it. I don’t know why he did it, and I didn’t get to see their bodies.” Sasuke squinted at his confessor, and Naruto came back to himself only after that a full minute had passed and then he couldn’t refuse some sort of reaction. “It may be difficult hearing about it,” Uchiha mumbled.

“Yeah!” Naruto gasped. “It’s like—that was a—are you—sure you’re okay to talk about this? I think I can handle listening to whatever you have to say in that case, but I don’t want to force you. To have something like that happen—you look pretty put-together, considering. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is I don’t want you to get hurt, ya know.”

“You’re sweet for worrying about me,” Sasuke whispered with deliberate intention. He was smiling, but the expression was somewhat lopsided. “I’ll tell you—unless it makes you gag, that is. You can pinch my arm or something.” He chuckled a little bit and Naruto’s chest tightened. He pressed Sasuke’s hand in answer.

“My brother’s older than me. He was my age when it happened and had already moved out. I don’t know what him and mom were doing in the kitchen, if they were cooking, if he’d planned it or if they got in a fight. I know that when they sentenced him—they’d suspected he was high or psychotic, but—as it turns out, he’d simply killed his parents—rationally—or however you want to think about it.”

“I was coming home from school and saw all of these police cars and ambulances in my driveway. I was told I couldn’t come inside, instead I was turned around, put in a car and taken to the psychiatric agency for kids, where a social worker and an officer came to meet up with me and the person who’d brought me. I think she was with the CPS probably. Anyway, they explained to me what my brother had done and that my parents were both dead, so they’d have to find me a temporary residence while my house was a crime scene.”

”You wouldn’t believe how perfectly alright they tried to have my situation seem to me, like if I cried they’d have a real tragedy to deal with. It was almost pleasant going through that meeting, gathered around a cornucopia, as we were, of cinnamon buns and madeleines and whatever else sugary treat will protect children from the adult ineptitude; humming agreeably as it was concluded I should be happy I hadn’t been home earlier—or better yet, lyrical because my brother hadn’t brutalized me too. It was a sham—what? —what a thing to be thankful for! Yes! I was not horrifically killed today!” After raising his arms in praise at the ceiling, Sasuke relaxed into his seat once more, sniffling briefly, then, almost with a cheer, continued his story.

“I ended up staying in that psychiatric ward for close to a week before they announced that in processing my case, they’d found that because I was seventeen I would be able to live on my own. They set me up with my apartment, and promptly disappeared—onto greener pastures, I assume”

“School was irredeemably destroyed, I don’t think I have to make that overly clear. I’d become a spectacle, you see. Everyone knew and got real intimate to know more. You can imagine the things they said about me. It didn’t take long until I’d graduated to accomplice.”

“And then, around the same time in ninth grade, I was contacted by the police again, saying that my brother was up for parole and that he’d been talking about me; meanwhile, I was also scouted by Sheep Bro. It was the same officer who called me whom I’d first met the day it happened, by the way; apparently, she’d felt bad enough for my sake that she thought my brother might try and come find me, and so she worried.”

“That was when I decided to quit school and start working. Sheep Bro offered me what seemed like a substantial amount of money, which was nice as I wouldn’t be receiving benefits from the government and inherited close to nothing; they’d totaled the house, you see— _they_ being the province—after having been unable to sell it, and most of the money earned from scrapped materials and the land itself were used to cover wages, leaving me with two thousand and ten yen—it was a no-brainer. Most importantly, Sheep Bro could offer me odd work-hours, as well as a sort of ‘safety guaranteed’ quality in the form of beefy body guards.”

“So, there you have it.” Sasuke summarized, staring straight ahead and clapping his hands as in finale. After some time had passed, no more than five minutes, he grew visibly anxious at noticing he was not receiving any kind of feedback from Naruto, and thus begun to fidget in his seat. “I’ve been saving up,” he blurted. “I’m going to take a math class starting at the closing of the month. I mean, I’ll have to do it that way—one class at a time to fit my schedule in, but—eventually. . .” Sasuke trailed to a quiet stop. He was staring at his lap, at his hands which sat on it, tense and white. The agony was so apparent on him that Naruto could kick himself for not having seen it earlier. Sasuke didn’t hate anyone; he was afraid.

Naruto sat quietly processing what he’d been allowed to know. Firstly, he was honored. Secondly, he was furious.

“Sasuke,” he began in a low, smoldering tone. “I’m going to do something now, and I don’t know if you’ll like it but just—feel free to hit me in that case.” Shooting his head up to answer the awaited reply, with confusion covering his until just previously somber mien, Sasuke was spared only enough time to frown in question before being tightly encased in Naruto’s sympathetic arms. He didn’t make a sound.

Naruto’s eyes and whole face were scrunched shut, prepared to be struck. He wanted to respect Sasuke’s revulsion, should he react poorly—but no blow came, and so he slowly relaxed.

Blue eyes peered curiously at the dark head when Naruto stole a glance from the sheep guy’s shoulder. Under his hands, Sasuke’s back was hard and warm. His white button-up shirt was silk, and the charming fabric urged Naruto to run his palms along it and squeeze the flesh underneath to surrender.

“Sasuke?” He must be losing his mind.

Uchiha was deflating, resting more comfortably and leaning into Naruto’s embrace. A little contented huff stirred the bright hairs on his neck, and then he understood—Sasuke was enjoying this.

He wished that there was something he could do to help, but he felt useless. Despite that, his heart thundered away. Naruto was becoming concerned that Sasuke would feel it, but he didn’t want to let him go.

“I’m sorry,” the blonde whispered, color rising. “My heartbeat. . .” Along his spine, floating up to the spot between his shoulder blades, Sasuke’s hands alighted.

“It’s fine,” he said and pressed. “Mine too.” They shifted, and then they were flush, pressed together. Sasuke’s pulse had indeed risen; Naruto could feel it reverberating in his own chest. He swallowed, and this drew a humored chuckle from the raven-haired counterpart of their sedentary chimera. His humor was short-lived however; as the laughter ended, Naruto felt the void left behind distinctly, and agonized at their symbiotic connection. “I don’t want to scare you,” Sasuke whispered.

“You don’t scare me a bit…!” What he did do, was transform Naruto into a jittery mess. He was struggling to keep his teeth from clacking. Sasuke snorted derisively, but his fingers had begun clawing themselves lodged in Naruto’s stupid pajama shirt.

With a shiver racing throughout his entire being, the blonde wonder couldn’t help letting his hands roam before he knew what he was doing.

He followed the gentle curve of Sasuke’s back, travelling the winding way upwards—slowly, indulging himself, taking his time. Next, he touched the shoulder-blades, kneaded them and splayed his hands, palpated their edges perversely; he squeezed the slender, white neck and drowned his perceptibles in the black high-rise, flailing in it for sport and savoring the danger; raking his nails along the skin and beginning the equally slow descent in a daze, letting run his hands down the smooth, muscular sides with his thumbs gracing Sasuke’s front throughout the motion as like to pick him up or to bend him back and down or hold him still and come forward himself; the many options each fought for the forefront of Naruto’s faculties’ failures’ fracture.

Arriving, at last, at the coveted small of his back, there caressing and very nearly letting his mind fog completely, Naruto ceased ministrations done to he whom may not relish the attention.

He sat back.

Yet relish was all there was to be observed. The two utterly moonless observatories were glowing onyx jewels of waxing pleasure and intrigue; and crowning them, two neat, loving lines of innumerable velvety strands came down of their sublime position and rippled in one fluid motion like cats, stretching their backs in greeting of the sun.

Pale pink lips were wetted, their dryness and Sasuke’s furtiveness abolished by the darting tongue, in a splash of red covering the instrument in a sheen like a white flag which let slip out its lubricated confines the trembling avowal: “what?”

“I don’t wanna give you the wrong idea,” confessed weakly the mean offender.

“And what idea is that?” Sasuke’s skin was aglow—the starving youth, the dear; his blood was rushing beneath a veil.

“Ya know, I—(gulp)—wouldn’t normally—be so—or use you—I wasn’t trying—to influence things.” Fancy, fancy fucking.

“You say that like you think you’re running the show,” replied Sasuke breathily. A slow smile crept over him. “Point of fact: you’re sweet for worrying, like I said, but haven’t you learnt by now, I can be quite handy?” Naruto felt the hairs on his arms salute, and his face was suddenly flaming hot as pliability overtook him along with Sasuke’s firm grip. He let himself be pulled, resituated in the center of the mattress and found that he hardly felt it when he was furthermore manhandled onto his back—thereof made completely vulnerable. The raven-haired beauty stood on his knees, provoking in the highest order, with his unbroken attention and his quiet laughter. Naruto was dizzy with unaffected emotion, and for a moment, he thanked the heavens that he was laying down or he would’ve surely toppled into a sighing mass.

“You’re saying I’ve no choice?” he whispered, pulling his rude guest forward by the belt-buckle. Sasuke lay down in an overly genteel manner, teasing, molding his own shape to fit Naruto’s like a cap.

“Hm!” he scoffed. “Feel free to fight me off; I can take a hint.”

“Obviously, you can,” gaspingly spoken.

“Although, I would—of course—prefer it if you enjoyed yourself. And let me do as you’ve already done, in groping a defenseless victim.” Naruto formed an image in his mind: that of a vulgar figure, with a stern guffaw falling on a cowering child, bent at the palls. “You scoundrel!”

He shivered at Sasuke’s weight pressing him into the soft bedding, keeping him there rather paralyzed. Nacreous humor flashed at him on chiming laughter in the semi-dark, and the host huffed in responding mirth, shaking his head.

“You—” however witty he’d readied himself to appear, Naruto was hindered by a much foreign sensation: his bedmate’s fingers in his hair, pulling and running gladly along his scalp; pale thumbs were brushing his cheeks “—you don’t have the guts,” Naruto pressed, though his voice came out strained and he was willing those rosy lips to descend on his. A challenge lit up Sasuke’s eyes.

“Oh?” he purred. “Better be careful, Uzumaki, or you’ll end up with your foot in your mouth, garbling like that.”

“Fondle me then, ya coward, if it’ll comfort you.” Grinning and hiccupping with the bubbles in his throat threatening to release, Naruto felt feverish; he twisted his hips away.

“O! Charity! Many thanks…!” Growling, the pale continent threw off his lonely mantle and made a swoop for his offering. Naruto’s lips were clasped in a shuddering kiss. His arms lifted up at the seizure, and he likewise treated the form pushing against him to an embrace.

Sasuke was a warm, wonderful weight in his keeping, nearly tossing to and fro with the force of his excitement, and Naruto couldn’t quite contain himself either, embarrassingly, but whimpered and writhed at the corruptive attentions.

That red tongue Naruto remembered from before came aknocking, and he let it in hungrily, deepening both kiss and connection with Sasuke.

He was delicious. Not in his life had the blonde patron been able to guess that another’s gullet may hold such delectable wonders as did this one. He wanted to drink him, or to fall inside and be swallowed whole and there splash around, breast-stroking and ululating. Wait—what was he thinking? Therein, might he covet also the places heretofore unseen by the hateful _others_ and not have to share with them, but devotedly, in private, caress and stroke until mastery graced him and Sasuke succumbed to his mysterious condition, baffling all those who happened to be near him at that time. Mmm—presently, such a thing was, as fate would have it, impossible. But lust is known to have a maddening effect, and Naruto therefore dreamt strange dreams, moaning and rejoining their hips.

“You’re uh—not shy, are you?” Sasuke mumbled against the hot skin of Naruto’s neck and clavicle. He bunched the pajama shirt up at the natural halt underneath the arms and dove to kiss the exposed chest.

“Not that I can remember…!” Bacchanalian debauchery; fiendish frolicking; outright unsound intemperance; Naruto tore off the offending vestige which squeezed him like a band, and he threw it aside, resuming his hands to their previous work of soaking up the sheep guy’s presence; in so doing, eliciting his curious attention, and his open mouth closing over his lip, the nostrils flaring, before came the ultimate production: a hissing curse.

“ _Fuck_ …!” Stressing the buttons, Sasuke furiously undressed, wringing out of his shirt, chucking it (floating like a sail run loose in the wind to the floor) picking up his like-colored undershirt and arched his back, removing it, now top-less (Naruto’s jaw fell slack) he was a milky-muscled sweating elf, mischief glaring from his very pores while the limbs struggled in mid-motions, not knowing what to do with themselves; he paused on all fours above Naruto and heaved with breathing. “I honestly didn’t expect this,” sounded he soundly, the sore sibilant.

“Is it painful?” Naruto grabbed him again by the belt; he raised his knee, stroking the inside of Sasuke’s clad thigh and pushing at its zenith, flirting from a terrific position. Sasuke’s breath hitched at the contact; he looked at the blonde like a hungry dog, enchanted with the taste of blood on his palate. “Mine, too,” Naruto echoed. “If you meant it, then let me make it better—Sasuke…!” He shuddered at the name, sitting up and crowding the flushed instigator. He lent closer, willing Sasuke to see behind himself and fling his arm out to catch his fall. “Tell me what you’re thinking. Unless—you prefer to be surprised?” At Sasuke’s stunted approach, Naruto had successfully taken control, and with one hand exploring the taut, white chest settling beneath him, the other set to work the buckled belt, undoing it, pulling it free with a snap and dropping it aside. Sasuke raised his ass off the mattress and wiggled, laughing at his pursuer’s zest. “Don’t blame me then,” mumbled the panana peeler, appealing peals of pu-humor abound.

Naruto pulled them off and grunted happily at the sight of powerful legs and tight, blue boxers waving in ovation at him.

“’Think you can handle me?” Sasuke mocked— “Uh!”—but was interrupted. Naruto kissed the sensitive inner thigh, licked it and savored it, creeping ever closer to the project not quite at large.

He took off his stupid pajama pants; Sasuke stuck his big toes in the waistband and helped. Barely finished kicking his legs free of their sheath, Naruto was grabbed and impatiently slapped unto his seducter. White legs circled his waist, and both men shared an open-mouthed expression—praise be to god! —when their dicks ground together.

Both members were courteous of one another: blowing their noses in mutual, bi-folded kerchiefs.

Naruto couldn’t believe his good fortune: Sasuke was gasping and naked underneath him. All left to do, was to remove the hymen. He set his mind to the task and his hand to the lining.

“Sasuke—I don’t know how much more of this I can take. So, if all you wished out’a this was just to tease me then—ya know—give yourself a big pat on the back cuz I am all kinds of impressed. If not. . .” Patting the prone partner’s flank, Sasuke scoffed.

“You’re lucky you’re cute, mega-dork, let me just tell you that—” he released his footing, pressed into the mattress and lifted his ass up “—hurry! Before I seriously herniate…!”

“Ha! I wouldn’t want to be responsible for something like that.”

“That’s right; you don’t!” laughed the perspiring mate, twisting his shoulders about and nearly rolling away. “So, quit trying to be a gentleman, and get on with it!” This, with certainty, was Sasuke’s way of excusing proper bedroom etiquette: with mild (at best) thanks, and a poorly concealed aim for requesting urgent seeing-to.

Naruto was much amused by this response; he took firm hold of the wayfaring body beneath him.

“I’ll really do it to you, ya know,” he said. “You should be more careful with where you put your stuff.” Sasuke threw his head back and groaned.

“How did we get here?” he spoke under his breath, guiding Naruto’s hands to his underwear. “You’re such a pain to deal with! You’re slow, persistent, naïve—” the article afforded a springing revelation at their removal, and Naruto swallowed, his mouth watering at the sight “—and yet no one’s made me feel more unsure, or more important. How do you expect me to deal with that? Huh?” Sasuke was wholly naked. Naruto’s world shrunk to a point where only the fair Adonis fit; he gorged on his vision, sweeping both feelers and peelers over him again and over again until Sasuke was twisting with such force he was throwing himself at the hands grabbing at his flesh.

With a curse, Sasuke sat himself with his thighs astraddle Naruto’s, and wrapping his arms about the bright head, he confessed: “I’ve fallen in love with you; I’m trying to be cool about it but when you touch me I feel like I’m going to die…!”

The thrusts delivered at his bare abdomen, the shockingly sweet sentiment—it sent Naruto over the edge with a killing blow.

The marveled sod crushed their mouths together and threw them both to the mattress. While he struggled to undress his own prod with one hand, the other closed fingers around the aching darling’s own plight. Sasuke moaned gratefully. Tears of relief wetted his lashes the moment he was touched, and his entire shape became the more animated with undulating.

“Oh, f-fuck yeah…!” he hiccoughed.

“You’re—an unbelievably funny guy, ya know,” growled in reply the sunned ministrant, cross-eyed, achingly hard. He freed himself at last and sought forward. It was a shame he’d no idea what he was doing, but it dulled his passion none. Sasuke obligingly angled himself, shorn, pink and white and wet, giving view by lifting his knee to his chest. “Here, right?”

“Give me a break…!”

“Heh! I’d no idea I had such an effect on you; seems like if you’d have told me, we might’ve both been spared a lot of trouble.”

“Water under the bridge—ah!” Pressing inside slowly, Naruto watched the velvet skin flush additionally; Sasuke’s chest and face were glowing as he sat up to lean on his elbows, grinding his teeth together in pain. Naruto paused for a second of enchantment: his lungs were suffused with perfume, one that intoxicated him like he’d never thought were possible. He thrust slowly ahead anew, a new head easing into FUCKING HEAVEN. “Gah!”

“Are you okay? —f—woah! –so tight! I may already--”

“Fine! I’m fine, so, (gasping) don’t pull out…!” As if the united recoil of a battalion held near the sway of Sasuke’s wishes over him, Naruto just laughed before sinking completely inside the pendulous body. The heat therein was immediate.

“Gh--!” It was all-encompassing. Knocking Naruto’s senses flat out, he was only vaguely able to register Sasuke’s arms though they squeezed his ribs and his neck; the hot breath in his ear was like a dreamt-of breeze; the voice, desperate to restrain itself, a coastal memory, and nonetheless it whimpered from fault of pride made brittle under towering satisfaction; Naruto heard his name breathed out in ecstasy. There was no way, he thought, that he could saddle this.

“I—” Naruto cradled the dark head in his hands, locking eyes with his unlikely collaborator, and he whispered: “—I fell in love, too, ya know, with—everything about you…!” Like a light igniting, Sasuke’s expression transformed; lips quivering, he looked as if to cry.

The sliding friction connecting them built and continued to build, benumbing discomfort, enhancing delight.

Sasuke was sprawling, kicking and raising his chest and throwing his head back; he was huffing and letting free little truncated syllables each time Naruto reached fully inside, shuddering bodily with the impact of continually expediting hips. It pleased the blonde to no end.

Watching the sheep guy getting his brains fucked out was exciting enough, however actually having the honor. . .

“Sasu--!” Picking up slim hips in his hands, Naruto came convulsively, pushing as hard as he could so that his muscles bunched and shook his body—as if he might himself fit in the spasming chasm, given that sufficient effort were applied.

Sasuke, poor thing, was all jelly. Coating his own chest and face with a shout, and getting pumped up like a donut, he set a feeble foot to Naruto’s gut, hoping to stifle somewhat the stimulus which already had him seeping through the bedding.

“Ha…! Ah—Sasuke, are you alright? Maybe I went a bit overboard; ya look a little. . .”

“I’m fine,” weakly saith he, wiping his brow. “As if the likes of you—” he paused to take a breath “—could wear me out.”

“Oh?” Responding to the other’s smirking confidence, in the midst of post-passionate throes, no less, Naruto grinned and took him into his arms. Sasuke quit his fatigue fast then and started in surprise, his limbs jerking.

“It’s going to spill out, jerkwad!”

“You’re pretty in pink, Sasuke. So pretty…!” Kissing his furiously blushing cheeks, Naruto rejoiced at hearing the grumble which followed. He was being held in return. Sasuke couldn’t admit it yet, but his patron knew, could spot it in the downcast glances and the stuttering caresses: Sasuke was beaming happiness.

“You keep saying my name, you weirdo.”

“You like ‘ _sheep bastard’_ better?”

“Hn! No.”

“I like your name; it’s great.”

“. . .I don’t know how to answer that.” Sasuke ran his fingertips slowly down Naruto’s chest where they lay wrapped up in one another. When the gilt-edged youth entangled Sasuke’s legs with his own, grinning to see what he’d do, under such scrutiny, Sasuke hid his laughter in the pillows. Tender Uchiha then gave a frustrated cry. “What am I supposed to do with you?”

“You’re so shy,” Uzumaki whispered, purring.

“Shut up. I’m not usually like this—uh—at all. But when I’m around you I feel like—not quite myself.”

“. . .I’m sorry.”

“No! No, it’s not something you should apologize for; I meant that I feel different—in, well, a good way.”

“I feel good in a different way, too, ya know,” Naruto replied through a grinning haze. He made a show out of snuggling into the sheets. Sasuke snorted at him, clicking his tongue.

“Yea, no shit you do. Seriously, though—I never do this.”

“What? Charm defenseless school boys with your dashing good looks, ignore them, then yell at them for making you happy before admitting that’s just how you show affection?”

“Oh, please. You, a defenseless school boy? In the first place, if you weren’t a screwup, which you are, you’d be a college student like your peers, and not an over-grown high schooler. You make me sound like a predator.”

“And in the second place?”

“Secondly, I don’t—run around charming anyone. No one’s treated me like you do.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“What?”

“Look at you! You’re like fucking Prince Charming!” Falling on him, Naruto set to running rapidly his fingertips over the kicking Sasuke’s abdomen and flanks, keeping him on the bed by an arm around his waist.

“NO! Stop it!”

“Are you kidding me!? Look at this god damn ring in your ear—like you don’t know what you’re doing!”

“Ha-ha! Knock it off—jerk—I’m extremely—ticklish!”

“You’re beautiful, and you’re damn well aware of it, dick! You’re telling me you don’t know what it does to your ass, wearing skin tight jeans? What it does to me? Oof!”

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” Sasuke laughed delightedly, retracting his foot.

“You did that on purpose.” Naruto flopped unto his back, cradling his sore gut in his hands.

“I did not,” responded happily the other, crawling on top of him. “I told you to stop, didn’t I? It’s not my fault you got hurt.”

“Isn’t that just so you, though? ‘So hands-off.”

“I’m feeling pretty hands-on in terms of you, as I’ve been trying to explain. Unfortunately, you were too busy taking liberties to care what I have to say.”

“Oh, I was _taking_ them, was I?”

“Well— “Sasuke cocked his head to the side, a slow smile dawning on his face “—maybe you’re right—blind chickens and all that. I wouldn’t let just anyone—do—what we just did. Listen!” Interrupting Naruto by putting his hand over his mouth when the blonde thought to speak, Sasuke emphatically resumed: “Listen to me. I’ve told you the whole story: how I feel, what’s happened and so forth. . .In my work—it was never like this, do you understand?” Naruto’s thumbs stroked Sasuke’s hips gently. “If you’re worried about Itachi—don’t. He’s not once come to find me, and even if he did, I wouldn’t let him get within ten meters of you. So—”

“Sasuke.” Naruto sat up, taking the trembling hand from off his mouth. He held Sasuke closely in his lap and looked him in the eye. “Stop it.”

“Stop what? I—”

“Just stop it already. I don’t care about any of the things you’re apologizing for. I’m not jealous; I’m not scared, I’ll kill him if I see him; I want you, too. I want you. Damnit, isn’t as much clear? I don’t want ya to feel like it’s strange of you to want to be close to me. I want you around, genius, don’t ya get that?”

“Don’t tease me, Naruto…!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Don’t go anywhere, okay? Just be mine.”

“I’m yours—if you want me…!”

“I do…! God, but I do!” Once more, their lips sealed, fused together, and while both young men gasped in a surge of emotion, they realized what a precipice they were before and were awestruck by it.

Their bodies, pressed together, revivified and heated; their kisses grew in time. They were adamant to not let go, not to give in but to adore and let be adored.

It had started simply: a weird sheep guy showing up at a failing no-good student’s house for a bizarre slumber party, and from there, well. . .Let’s just say I’ve seen movies that end with a kind of narration like this.

“Naruto! Sasuke-kun!” A strident knocking ensued on the other side of the bedroom door. Sasuke and Naruto broke apart, gasping in startled surprise. “The coffee’s getting cold! What’re you two doing in there?”

“We’ll be out in a minute!” called the disobedient son. He ran his hand through his hair and deflated. “Jesus.”

“Took him long enough to even notice,” Sasuke mumbled.

“Well, you know what they say. . .Don’t knock it ‘til you try it!”

“. . .What—the door? The fu—”

 

( **Bitterjug** by **Damn!** Starts playing while the credits roll)

CAST: (in order of appearance)

Naruto (The Student) – Uzumaki Naruto

_Freeze-frame of Naruto looking over his shoulder with noodles spilling out of his mouth_

Minato (The Father) – Uzumaki Minato

_Freeze-frame of Minato rubbing the back of his head, laughing nervously and wearing a pink apron_

Kakashi (The Stepdad) – Hatake Kakashi

_Freeze-frame of Kakashi covering the lower half of his face with his arm as he’s slamming the bathroom door on the photographer who caught him mid-shave_

Sasuke (The Sheep) – Uchiha Sasuke

_Freeze-frame of Sasuke with his index fingers hooked in the sides of his mouth, sticking out his tongue and crossing his eyes_

Kiba (The Best Friend) – Inuzuka Kiba

_Freeze-frame of Kiba tipping over the chair he’s sitting on, throwing his arms out before himself as he falls_

Special appearance by:

Nicolas Gauge (The Groundskeeper, You Know, The Guy Who Closed the Gate at Konoha West) – As Himself

_Freeze-frame of Nicolas Gauge overlooking the two Mains at the gate of Konoha High, smiling knowingly at the camera like he’s in pain or something_

Colleague #1 (The Colleague) – Nicolas Gauge

_Freeze-frame of Nicolas Gauge choking and spitting up water at the train station scene_

Colleague #2 (The Colleague) – Nicolas Gauge

_Freeze-frame of Nicolas Gauge gesturing wildly at the camera-man during the train station scene, while the two Mains look incredulously on in the background_

Colleague #3 (The Colleague) – Nicolas Gauge

_Freeze-frame of Nicolas Gauge holding the two Mains in a dual-headlock during the train station scene whilst laughing maniacally_

Drunk girl #1 (The Hostess) – Nicolas Gauge

_Freeze-frame of Nicolas Gauge during the train station scene wearing a dress and pouting his lips_

Drunk girl #2 (The Hostess) – Nicolas Gauge

_Freeze-frame of Nicolas Gauge during the train station scene, flipping his hair and wearing a debauched expression_

Drunk girl #3 (The Hostess) – Nicolas Gauge

_Freeze-frame of Nicolas Gauge during the train station scene talking with the director and the two Mains; they’re under umbrellas and green screens surround them_

 

Brought to you by a sick freak on a couch TM.

_Freeze-frame of the two Mains happily posing together for the camera, smiling and throwing peace signs._

_Nicolas Gauge is also there._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any similarities observed between the characters of this work and real people are purely coincidental. I do not own any part of the Naruto franchise.


End file.
